Naruto - Shinigami on the Prowl
by DocHoliday0316
Summary: Naruto dies in his battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End and is sent to the Soul Society where he joins the Gotei 13. Three years later Naruto becomes the Captain of the 3rd Division shortly after the Ryoka Invasion before he, along with Ichigo and Renji, is sent on a mission to the Shinobi World; What will happen when Naruto ends up in Konoha? Adopted from Rocker1600.
1. Prologue

**Naruto: Shinigami on the Prowl**

**A/N: This is the first of Rocker1600's chapters; my first chapter is Chapter 18 if you wish to start there. I will be collaborating with Rocker on this story. **

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.

**Prologue**

[Valley of the End, Shinobi World]

_Three Years Before The Current Time…._

This valley, on the border of the Lands of Fire and Sound, was once the sight of a legendary battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju more than a century ago; the valley became a scar on the earth itself, the two shinobi that fought here forever etched into the valley by the two statues that lined the waterfall that ran through this place. It is here, in the shadow of these famed warriors, that two other shinobi were fighting in a desperate battle of their own.

These two shinobi were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha; the manipulations going on around them had poisoned Sasuke's mind as he tried to kill his best friend in order gain the fabled Mangekyō Sharingan. Naruto, meanwhile, was desperately trying to stop Sasuke from leaving Konoha to join the vile shinobi Orochimaru, who wanted to take Sasuke's body for his own. Despite his efforts, however, Naruto was unable to convince his best friend to see error of his ways and had to use more force as their battle reached its ultimate climax; Sasuke prepared to use his Curse Mark-enhanced Chidori while Naruto prepared his Kyubi-enhanced Rasengan. With their jutsus fully charged Naruto and Sasuke at each other, their jutsus colliding before exploding, which caused severe damage to the statues of the famed founders of Konoha.

Sasuke was knocked back by the explosion, smaking into the statue of Madara before falling to the ground, still alive but unconcious and critically injured. Fate was, tragically, not so kind to Naruto who was pierced though his heart by Sasuke's Chidori and was launched into the lake below, his body further paralyzed by the electricity generated by the lighting-style jutsu; as Naruto fell further down into the depths of the lake he could barely hear the Kyubi's voice as he appeared before the Beast's cage.

"_Wake up, you fool; we're dying!_" the Tailed Beast yelled; the Kyubi's attempt to rally his Jinchuriki was a useless gesture, however, as Naruto's were too grave for even him to heal.

"_You know as well as I do that we're already dead, Kyubi,_" Naruto replied; before the Kyubi could say anything, however, Naruto said something that shock the Tailed Beast.

"_I was hoping to do something about your hatred someday as well; I guess that's now going to be impossible, however. I'm sorry, Kyubi, for letting you_ _down,_" the dying ninja said; the Kyubi was, naturally, stunned by this. The Kyubi wouldn't have believed what his Jinchuriki just said except for the fact that the look in Naruto's eyes had a serious a look as they've ever been.

"_Normally I would have accused someone who said that of lying to me; for some reason, however, I can tell that you're being honest with me. (sighs) Maybe if we had lived that might've succeeded,_" the Kyubi said as the darkness began to consume him and Naruto.

"_I wanted to ask you something, Kyubi, and since we're dying I might as well ask it now; do you have a real name?_" Naruto asked. This shocked the Kyubi; no one since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths had ever thought to ask for his name.

"_Since you're not as bad as I thought I guess I can tell you; my name... is Kurama,_" he said as the last vestiges of life within him and Naruto vanished, but not before Naruto commented on the Tailed Beast's name.

"_So you're name is Kurama, huh? I think it suits you. (sighs) Farewell, Kurama,_" Naruto said as he awaited the afterlife, unaware that he and Kurama would not be so easily separated...

[Konoha Hospital]

_Meanwhile..._

Kakashi had just brought Sasuke back from the Valley of End, having found his unconcious body; he had not found any sign of Naruto and had assumed that he would be healed by the Kyubi and would return to Konoha within a couple of hours.

As a team of medics, lead by the Tsunade, were treating Sasuke for his wounds, which bordered on the mortal level, Kakashi was trying to calm down Sakura, who had arrived at the hospital upon receiving and who surprised her sensei with her reaction. She was angry... but not at Naruto.

"How could you leave Naruto alone like that, Kakashi-sensei?! You saw what he had to do just to stop Sasuke from leaving; he's probably badly hurt now as well!" Sakura yelled.

"Sasuke was the only one I found, Sakura; I wouldn't worry him, though. His wounds have always healed quickly so he probably won't be gone for no more than a couple of hours," Kakashi reassured his squad member; what he didn't was that it actually going to take a few years before Naruto returned and, even then, it would not last...

* * *

Shortly after dying Naruto arrived in the Soul Society where he was greeted by his Minato and Kushina, his parents, who had sensed their son's presence when they felt the power of Kurama. Naruto was surprised, though strangely relieved, to find out that Kurama was still inside him; the Tailed Beast was still bound to Naruto's soul. It didn't take Naruto long to made good on his promise to Kurama, earning his trust and shortly thereafter, as an unintended benefit, full access to his powers.

After reuniting with the Third Hokage and meeting several other shinobi, all of whom had become shinigami, (A/N: The full list of shinobi in the Gotei 13, with their respective ranks, can be seen at the end of this chapter) Naruto decided to become a shinigami himself and entered the Shino Academy. Naruto was surprised to fact out that he was considered a prodigy there, and apparently the best one the Gotei 13 have had to date; he was also surprised by, though was happy with, the fact that no one cared about his status as a Jinchuriki and, as such, did not suffer from the prejudices that he had to deal with back in Konoha. This allowed to befriend people more easily and allowed him to reach his full potential as a shinigami.

Naruto's skills and power allowed him to graduate from the Academy in one year; Naruto joined the 13th division after he graduated and his captain, Jūshirō Ukitake, decided to make the blonde his lieutenant, making Naruto the first lieutenant of that division since the death of Kaien Shiba.

This was where Naruto found himself, 18 months later, when "they" arrived...

Next Time - The Ryoka

A/N: I hope you enjoy this. Anyways, here's the standing of the shinobi in the Gotei 13 (Bleach Shinigamis who had their ranks changed will appear, with their new rank, underlined):

* * *

2nd Division (Captain Sui-Feng):

Haku Yuki[the name of his clan], Lieutenant.

Marechiyo Ōmaeda, 3rd Seat

5th Division (Captain Sosuke Aizen):

Minato Namikaze, Lieutenant

Kushina Uzumaki, 3rd Seat

Momo Hinamori, 4th Seat

8th Division (Captain Shunsui Kyōraku):

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Lieutenant

Nanao Ise, 3rd Seat

9th Division (Captain Kaname Tosen):

Fugaku Uchiha, Lieutenant

Shisui Uchiha, 3rd Seat

Mikoto Uchiha, 4th Seat

Shuhei Hisagi, 5th Seat

11th (Captain Kenpachi Zaraki):

Zabuza Momochi, 4th Seat

13th Division (Captain Jūshirō Ukitake):

Naruto Uzumaki, Lieutenant

* * *

Some ranks will change as the story progresses.


	2. 1: Ryoka

**Chapter 1 – Ryoka**

Opening Song: "In My World" by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D (From Blue Exorcist)

Ending Song: "Life" by YUI (Bleach)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Bleach**

[6th Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Current Time…_

The small prison cell in the barracks was seldom without an occupant thanks to Byakuya Kuchiki's strict adherence to the law; the person imprisoned in the cell right now was a special case, however, for it was none other than Byakuya's younger sister-in-law, Rukia. The adopted member of the Kuchiki family was currently speaking to her longtime friend Renji Abarai, who was getting annoyed with her comments about his new promotion to lieutenant of the 6th Division.

"Do a good job, lieutenant. You're very strong, lieutenant. You have weird eyebrows, lieutenant," Rukia said as an irritated Renji grab the bars of the cell.

"That's it, damn it. Let me at her; I'm gonna-" Renji said until both he and Rukia sensed a very large, and very familiar, surge of reiatsu emanated nearby and approached them; Renji's face paled as he knew what was that meant.

"Ummm... maybe you should run, Renji," Rukia said, knowing full well who was the source of the reiatsu.

Renji, heeding his friend's advice, began to run towards the only door in and out of the prison room; unfortunately for Renji it was too late for him to run as that door suddenly flew off its hinges and smacked the bars of the cell before it shattered into millions of pieces. Renji flinched heavily when he heard the culprit's voice.

"TATTOO-BROWS!" the voice roared as the person charged into the cell... and right at Renji.

"Please calm down, Naruto; I swear I can explain-" Renji pleaded before he was silenced by a kick to the face, courtesy of the 13th Division lieutenant.

"You went to arrest Rukia and attacked her; you think you can just explain that way?!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Renji by his shihakusho and shook him until he was almost unconcious.

Normally both he and Renji were good friends and were basically brothers; after he was informed of Renji's actions during Rukia's arrest, however, Naruto's temper which, among many of Naruto's other attributes, has become legendary in the past year and a half was unleashed. His temper did not flare up often but when it did there was little anyone could do to stop him if no one from the shinobi world, or at least a close friend, was nearby.

Thankfully, for Renji, Rukia was there.

"Please stop it, Naruto; it's not worth hurting Renji," Rukia pleaded getting the attention of her commanding officer... who let go of the badly bruised Renji. Naruto ran up to her cell.

"Rukia, are you hurt?" Naruto asked her with obvious concern.

"I'm alright, Naruto; just a little down, that's all," Rukia said as she thought about her lieutenant's very strong protective nature.

He was always like this with the members of his squad; like a shepherd to his flock he was very concerned over the safety and well being of the members of the 13th Division and Rukia, knowing her lieutenant far too well, knew that even if he was, for whatever reason, transferred to another division that sentiment would still be there.

Naruto nodded but before he said anything, however, Renji managed to get up.

"Naruto, I know you're upset, and I'm really sorry for what I did, but can you at least let me speak to Rukia in peace?" Renji asked to which Naruto sighed.

"Fine, but the next time something like this happens again, Tattoo-Brows, I swear to Kami you'll be facedown on the ground eating bricks faster than you can say 'Tailed Beast'," Naruto warned, still simmering from his latest outburst.

"In any case I have to report to Old Man Ukitake right now so I'll come back to check on you later, Rukia," Naruto said to which both Rukia and Renji nodded.

As Naruto left the 6th Division barracks he couldn't help but think of his father's warning earlier in the day... when he had been running of few errands for his captain.

"_I didn't want to tell you this just yet, but now it seems that the time to wait has finally passed. Keep a close eye on my captain whenever you're in his presence, as I fear this is his doing,_" Minato warned him, though there wasn't a real need to do so.

Unlike the rest of the Gotei 13 the shinobi-turned-shinigami, who were known as "shinobigami" by many of their colleagues, had suspected Aizen of plotting something along with Ichimaru and Tosen; they had even figured out the true nature of Aizen's zanpakuto, a fact that earned him even less trust amongst the shinobigami. Even the thick-headed Naruto could tell something was wrong with those three captains; Naruto's suspicions were also shared by both Kurama and his zanpakuto, which showed just how poor a mask Aizen wore. Because of the fact that the three captains had everyone else in the Gotei 13 fooled, however, the shinobi kept their suspicisions to themselves until they could prove any wrongdoing on the part of those three.

As Naruto raced towards his barracks he clenched his fist at the thought of the the 5th Division Captain.

"_For your sake, Aizen, this better not have anything to do with you,_" Naruto thought to himself; he was unaware of the fact that, even now, the one person Aizen had the most interest in was preparing a daring operation into the heart of the Soul Society itself...

* * *

[13th Division Barracks, Seireitei]

_More Than A Week Later..._

Naruto had woken up before daybreak, as he had since the day he had visited Rukia; there was too much on his mind for him to sleep. It had already been a trying week since Rukia's arrest as Naruto sat on the roof of this barracks to watch the sunrise.

First the execution sentenced out to his friend occured, then his subsequent arguement with Byakuya nearly coming to blows, though they had both never really seen eye-to-eye on anything before. Byakuya had found Naruto's lack of formality and even greater lack of respect for authority figures displeasurable while Naruto actively despised Byakuya for his poor treatment of his subordinates and, especially, for placing the law even above his own family; this gulf had only gotten worse since Rukia's arrest, with Naruto's parents, Captain Ukitake, and Shisui Uchiha being the only ones that could stop the two shinigami from trying to kill each other.

The final thing that occupied Naruto's mind was the arrival of five intruders to the Rukongai Sector of the Soul Society, one of them being the one whom Rukia had lost her powers to, and their attempt to enter the Seireitei. He especially had mixed feelings over what to think of that guy, who Rukia kept calling Ichigo. On the one hand this Ichigo was responsible for Rukia's predicament; on the other hand, however, he was in the Soul Society now and was, more than likely, trying to save Rukia so Naruto assumed that he actually did care for his friends.

As Naruto pondered his next course of action he felt a familiar reiatsu approach him.

"Good morning, Shisui-sensei. How are you feeling?" Naruto asked the Uchiha who had acted as his teacher since his graduation, teaching him skills that the Shino Academy instructors could not.

"I'm alright, Naruto; I was actually going to ask you the same thing. Both of your parents and Captain Ukitake are worried about you since you haven't been getting much sleep recently," Shisui said. Naruto sighed at this comment.

"I've just had a lot on my mind recently, that's all," Naruto said.

Shisui, thanks to his time as Naruto's master, knew which particular thought was on Naruto's mind at the moment.

"You should wait until the intruders enter the Seireitei first if you plan to confront them," Shisui said; the Uchiha knew that Naruto was planning to confront these intruders, regardless of what anyone tried to do to convince him to do otherwise, as the blonde probably believed that, by confronting them, he might find an answer to a question that must've been bothering him.

"I know, sensei, but I've never been the most patient guy and every day I wait is a day closer to Rukia's-" Naruto said before he and Shisui noticed that a small light appear in the skies above the Seireitei as the sun began to rise.

This light appeared to come closer and closer to the home of the Shinigami until, to the shock of both shinobigami, the light collided with the Soul Shield Membrane that surrounded the Seireitei. The small light was held back by the membrane for a few moment until, to the further shock of Naruto, and the rest of the shinigami, the light broke through the barrier and, after a minute or so, split into four streaks which began to descend to the city below. Everyone in the Seireitei already knew what this meant even before the barrier was breached.

Before Shisui realized it Naruto was already heading towards the nearest light, which he assumed to be one of the intruders.

"_It looks like they've finally arrived; it's time to see what kind of person you truly are, Ichigo Kurosaki,_" Naruto thought as he entered the nearest sewer entrance, having learned the layout of the undergound network a few months prior, in order to approach the intruders without being detected.

* * *

[Underground Sewer System, Seireitei]

_Several Hours Later..._

The massive underground network was barley used as its layout was known to a handul of shinigami, most of them from the 4th Division. One of these people, a young man named Hanataro Yamada, was currently navigating the system; what made this foray stand out, however, were the two intruders, who are called Ryoka by most of the other shinigami, who were following him. One of these intruders, a guy with short orange hair and wearing a Soul Reaper shihakusho, walked to Hanataro's side.

"Hey, Hanataro, can I ask you something?" he asked. Hanataro got a little anxious before he nodded in reply.

"When you talked about how there aren't many other shinigami that knew their way around these sewers you looked like you were going to add something to what you were saying before I interrupted you. Could you tell me what you were going to say?" he asked.

"Well... there have been stories over the past few months, Ichigo. Apparently some of the other members of the 4th Division claim that they have seen another shinigami walking through the sewers; they claim that the person is not of the 4th Division though, as of right now, none of them have been able to get a good look at the person to positively identify," Hanataro explained as both Ichigo and the other intruder, a man from the Rukongai region named Ganji Shiba, secretly hoped that this person was either a tall tale or, if they were real, that they would not be in the sewer right now.

This would, apparently, not be the case.

"Why don't we change that, then, since I'm here now," a voice from the darkness said, causing Ichigo and the others to stop in their tracks.

Ichigo gripped Zangetsu as he responded to the voice, prepared to fight whoever this opponent might be.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked as Zangetsu was unsheathed; Ichigo looked at the path in front of him since the voice appeared to come from that direction.

Hanataro, having recognized the voice, suddenly paled as he had a good idea of why that person was there.

"It can't be... you're the one who's been using the sewer passages?" Hanataro asked in horror to which the person responded to the affirmative. Ichigo, his patience growng thin, had had enough of this person's mind games.

"Show yourself, damn it!" Ichigo commanded to which the person sighed.

"You don't have to tell me that; I was going to do that anyways," the person said; the person soon stood before the three would-be rescuers, their appearance made visible to them by one the fluorescent lightbulbs that provided dim lighting to the underground network.

It was a guy about Ichigo's age, though a little shorter than he was, with short and spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a standard shihakusho with an orange sash wrapped around his waist, an armband that had a badge of some sort around his left sleeve, and a black headband, with a metal plate emblazoned with the Kanji for 'Shinobi' sewn onto it, wrapped around his forehead. He had his zanpakuto, which was a katana with an orange hilt and a red spiral-patterned tsuba, sheathed and secured to his sash. The first thing that caught Ichigo's mind as being unusual, however, were the six marks on guy's face, three on each cheek, that resembled whiskers; they made him look like some sort of fox. The second, and more important, thing that made this guy stand out from the other shinigami Ichigo had encountered until then was the massive amount of reiatsu that emanated from him, as it was greater than anything Ichigo had ever felt in his short time as a shinigami.

Ichigo prepared for what he thought would be the most difficult battle he had fought until then as the mystery guy turned his gaze towards him.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked. The guy pointed his right thumb as his headband as he answered.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Lieutenant of the 13th Division," he declared, shocking both Ganju and Ichigo.

"How the hell can a lieutenant have so much reiatsu; I had a feeling that the lieutenants were no pushover, but this is ridiculous," Ganju said.

It was a sentiment that was also shared by Ichigo as the orange-haired shinigami had fought a lieutenant, in this case Renji Abarai, before and even he, with his crappy senses, could tell that guy before him now was on another level, another planet even, by comparison. If this guy's power was far greater than another lieutenant, then why was he at the same rank.

"Because all the spots for Captain are already taken plus I haven't acheived one of the major requirements yet. That's enough about me, though," Naruto said as he focused his stare at Ichigo again.

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki? The one that Rukia talked about?" he asked, surprising Ichigo who took a while before he made a response.

"I guess I am; what's it to you?" Ichigo asked to which Naruto sighed.

"Why are you here? Is it perhaps to save her?" Naruto asked, giving the impression that he ignored Ichigo's question.

"Yes, I am, and I just asked you why does it matter to you?" Ichigo asked with the irritation he felt clearly evident in his voice.

"It matters to me because Rukia and I are in the same division, you baka," Naruto replied, stunning Ichigo with his statement; before Ichigo could say anything, however, Naruto continued to speak.

"Based on what Rukia told me I have a feeling that you and I are alike in many ways. (sighs) Unlike you, however, I still don't know what to do about her execution; that's why I'm going to put you to the test... to see if you're truly strong enough to save her. I think that if I do that then I can answer that question," Naruto said.

Ganju, at this point, went up to Ichigo, who was standing a few yards away from Naruto.

"He could be setting a trap for us, Ichigo; how can we be sure he ain't lying-" the Shiba clansman said before Ichigo cut him off.

"I can already tell you that he isn't lying to us, Ganju. If he had wanted to defeat us, he could of done it the moment he spotted us; even I could tell that the difference in our powers is just too great. If he wanted to simply end our rescue he could've knocked us out before we knew what happened; he's pretty good at concealing his reiatsu. Instead he confronted us head-on so I'm willing to take a leap of faith here," Ichigo said before he turned his attention to Naruto.

"What's this little test you have in mind?" he asked the lieutenant, who flashed a smirk.

"It's nothing too complicated; all you have to do is fight me. You don't have to beat, though; all you have to do is wound me once. It doesn't even have to be a serious wound, though we'll noth be using what powers we need in order to win; if you can do that then'll you've passed. Any questions?" Naruto explained as he unsheathed his zanpakuto.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this, Naruto Uzumaki!" Ichigo said as both he and Naruto charged at each other.

It wasn't long before their blades to collide with each other, signifying that the two shinigami had begun their battle...

Next Time - Finding an Answer: Naruto vs. Ichigo


	3. 2: Finding an Answer: Naruto vs Ichigo

**Chapter 2 – Finding an Answer: Naruto vs. Ichigo**

A/N: Please keep sending faves, follows, and reviews

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Bleach

[Underground Sewer System, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Current Time…_

As Naruto and Ichigo clashed in the sewers below the Seireitei both Ganju and Hanataro watched with the shock they were feeling clearly etched into their faces. Ganju was shocked at seeing this display of power on Naruto's part; even though it was clear that the blond-haired shinigami was using less than a quarter of his strength he was clearly getting the better of his opponent, who looked like he had been run over by a freight train while Naruto had yet to receive even a single wound.

Hanataro, on the other hand, was amazed by the fact that Naruto had not taken Ichigo down after 20 minutes had passed. Hanataro had witnessed what the former shinobi was capable of with using that level of strength when Naruto protected him from a couple of 11th Division members who had been bullying him around. The amount of strength Naruto was fighting at right now was at the level of a captain so the fact that Ichigo was still able to fight him was nothing short of a miracle.

Naruto was also impressed by Ichigo's strength even as he had forced the orange-haired shinigami on the defensive; with the exception of his fellow shinobigami and the Captains that he fought when they tried to gauge his strength everyone else would've lost a fight against him in the first few minutes. Ichigo has not only managed to keep fighting him the would-be rescuer had even managed to tire Naruto out considerably as he had been forced to use both his Shunpo and Kido against Ichigo.

Ichigo suddenly swung Zangetsu as Naruto's chest before the blonde could continue his attack; as Naruto Shunpoed yet again he took a moment to note Ichigo's massive amount of reiatsu before he pointed his right index finger at Ichigo.

"**Hado** **#4**. **Byakurai **(Pale Lightening)," Naruto said he generated a concentrated lightning bolt that he then discharged iat Ichigo.

The orange-haired managed to dodge the attack as Naruto suddenly appeared above him.

"You're not bad, Ichigo, but you're going to have to try harder than that," Naruto said rather bluntly as he swung his zanpakuto at Ichigo's head.

"I'm not finished just yet, Naruto Uzumaki so don't act as if I am already beaten. You may be much stronger than I am but I won't give up; I have to rescue Rukia and if that means passing this little test of yours then I will do it," Ichigo said in response to Naruto's comment; Naruto already knew that Ichigo was not finished but was trying to push the human to see just how muc strength he had.

After blocking Naruto's slash Ichigo, to the former shinobi's surprise, stopped moving and had placed his zanpakuto on his shoulders.

Naruto wasn't the only one that was confused by Ichigo's actions as both Hanataro and Ganju were also taken aback by this.

"_What the hell is Ichigo doing?_" Ganju thought to himself as Ichigo just stood in that position, unmoving.

"Uh... are you okay Ichig- WAHHHH!" Hanataro said as a sudden and massive burst of reiatsu emanated throughout the area; since the underground sewers were so deep below the suface that only those in the passages would've felt this upsurge in power.

Naruto looked on as Ichigo suddenly turned his glare towards him; the former shinobi's eyes widened as Ichigo's eyes suddenly glowed a light blue.

"I sorry to keep you waiting... but I now it's time to show you my resolve, Naruto Uzumaki," Ichigo said as Naruto looked at him in shock before he flash a smirk.

"_Resolve, huh? So it is your will that's has helped you through all this,_" Naruto thought to himself as he prepared to dodge the oncoming attack.

The shinobigami was surprised when Ichigo lifted his massive blade; with the blade pointed towards the celing it looked as if he intended to slash at Naruto despite the fact that he was 20 feet from the blonde.

Ichigo then swung his zanpakuto which, to Naruto's surprise, unleashed some sort of massive beam of reiatsu as it was swung; before anyone realized it the beam reached Naruto who suddenly vanished behind the light generated by Ichigo's attack. After a few moments the attack finally dissipated leaving behing a column of smoke and a canyon-like chasm on the floor of the hallway.

Ichigo looked on as his breathing became slow and heavy.

"_Did I get him that time?_" Ichigo asked himself as he fell to his knees, his exhaustion and wounds having finally caught up to him; though Ichigo assume that Naruto did survived the attack he wasn't sure if Naruto was able to fully escape the onslaught.

As the column of smoke continued to dissipate at a slow pace Ichigo and his two companions suddenly heard Naruto say something that shocked all three of them.

"You something else Ichigo, you know that? You actually managed to wound me," Naruto said as the smoke finaly cleared enough for the three would-be rescuers to see what had happened. Ichigo and Ganju couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Naruto stood before them as if he was still unscathed; it was hard to tell, however, as the shinobigami's entire body was now enveloped by what appeared to be a reiatsu shroud that was in the form of flickering yellow flames. Naruto now wore what appeared to be a necklace made of magatama beads while an image of a larger magatama appeared on the shroud where it enveloped Naruto's abdomen; the round circle of larger bead-like image was itself strange as it looked like a spiral pattern of some sort. In addition to the shroud Naruto's hair was now spiked up with the two endmost locks now resembling horns; as final change in his appearance Naruto's eyes had changed colo, turning from blue to orange. The change in appearance was accompanied by a increase in reiatsu that only Ichigo could withstand without being pinned down to the floor though he had already fallen to his knees prior to this form. (A/N: Naruto just used his Nine-Tails[Kyubi] Chakra Mode [KCM])

Ichigo was shocked but, surprisingly, it wasn't from either the changes in Naruto's appearance or power.

"Why are you still unscathed? I thought you said that I wounded you," Ichigo said to which Naruto sighed.

"You did wound me, baka. If I hadn't unleashed this form when I did that wound would've actually been fatal," Naruto explained away.

Naruto then, to everyone's shock, dispersed the form that he had taken which undid both the increase in his powers and the change in appearance. When the KCM dispersed Ichigo, Ganju, and especially Hanataro, were surprised to see that Naruto had indeed been wounded; the blond-haired shinigami had what was clearly a slash wound that reached his left shoulder to what appeared to be inches above where his heart and major blood vessels. Ichigo realized what that wound meant if his smirk was anything to go by.

"I guess I passed your little test, Naruto," Ichigo said as his two companions got back to their feet.

"So you did, Ichigo," Naruto said as he motioned for Hanataro to heal the orange-haired shinigami.

As Hanataro began to heal a reluctant Kurosaki he turned his gaze to Naruto's wound. Naruto noticed Yamada's concerned expression and waved it off.

"You don't have to worry about me, Hanataro; you should already know that this wound will probably be healed in a few minutes anyways so focus your attention to Ichigo," Naruto reasoned.

The former shinobi then turned his attention to both Ganju and the somehow concious Ichigo when he saw that both had expressions on their faces that screamed confusion.

"I guess this would be the best time for an explanation about who I am and what I'm going to do now. Am I right?" Naruto asked; he sighed when the two men nodded as he realized that this would take a while...

_Two Hours Later..._

Naruto had finished his explanation to Ichigo and Ganju a few minutes prior and was now headed towards the sewer entrance that was located right next to the barracks of his division. After getting the group to agree to not talk about anything that he said to them after he parted from them Naruto told them about himself, including a little bit about his past life since all of the shinobigami did remember their past, and about the existence of the shinobigami the former shinobi then agreed to let Ichigo and his friends continue their efforts to rescue Rukia.

Naruto, thanks to his battle with Kurosaki, even agreed to help the intruders with the rescue. Due to the suspicious nature of Rukia's execution, however, Naruto told the group that he would not join the group as it would be better if he got the other shinobigami to help them as well. Though Ichigo was suspicious of Naruto's claim he finally relented after a few minutes. After taking a few more minutes to explain he planned to do to the the group Naruto left, having agreed to meet with Ichigo and his friends, including those that were not present, once Rukia had been rescued. Naruto, despite being aware of the possible maniplations surrounding Rukia's sentence, decided not to tell Ichigo of these dark designs just yet as he had no solid proof of them.

Naruto decided to ask his dad to hold a meeting with the other shinobigami to inform them of the situation and to plan their course of action. Naruto didn't have to worry about the possibility of any of them refusing to help since they had been planning to deal with this situation anyways though the group of former shinobi had yet to decided if they would have to forcibly stop the execution.

As Naruto finally reached the ladder leading to the sewer entrance he reflected on what had happened in these hallways today; he was especially reflected on his opponent, a thought that was not lost on the part of his inner entities.

"_It's just like Rukia said, Naruto, he is a lot like you,_" a familiar voice said to him from within his mind.

"_I guess he is, Kurama, though I'm shocked that his powers are still growing even now. To think that he's already at the level that he is makes me wonder if he even knows how much potential,_" Naruto replied.

"_Says the kid who is already at the level where he can obtain bankai yet refuses to do so,_" another voice said in a mocking tone; this caused a giant vein to suddenly poke out of Naruto's forehead.

"_Are you seriously going to bring that up? I thought that we agreed to honor my dad's request to wait for that until us shinobigami have dealt with that sanke Aizen and his two lackeys,_" Naruto said in an irritated tone before he heard that same voice sigh at what he said.

"_We did agree to that, Naruto. But let's imagine for a moment that Aizen is the one responsible for this entire ordeal and that he finally make his move against the Soul Society. Even though you're able to see past his illusions your shikai isn't going to be enough to deal with him. If you really want to save Rukia you're going to have to make that decision... and it has to be made now, Naruto,_" the voice said. Just as Naruto was about to sigh at this lecture Kurama stepped in.

"_This guy may get on my nerves everytime we have a conversation, Naruto, but he does have a point,_" the Tailed Beast said in agreement.

"_You've always known how to push my buttons don't you..._ _Kamikaze_(Translation: Divine Wind)_? I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you are my zanpakuto. (sighs) You do realize that I already know all of this, right? Because I know all of that already I was going to tell you as well as Kurama that I planned to finally begin my Bankai training after I have this meeting with the others,_" Naruto said. Both of his internal resident were surprised by this but were unable to say anything before Naruto continued to speak.

"_I promised my dad that I would wait a bit before I began that training; if Aizen is the one who's responsible for Rukia's sentence, however, I can't afford to wait any longer. I going to need that power to deal with that man so I'm going to ask Shisui-sensei to help me with my training which I plan to begin tonight. As for my dad... as long as it actually helps us in stopping Aizen what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?,_" Naruto explained. The former shinobi could tell that Kamikaze ws smirking after hearing all of this as he began to climb the ladder out of the sewers...

Next Time - Preparations


	4. 3: Preparations

**Chapter 3 – Preparations**

Please keep sending faves, follows, and Reviews. Also, if you are a fan of this story, then you should check out my original story, _Shinigami of the Four Winds. _

Disclaimer: Still applies.

[Lieutenants' Assembly Room, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Four Hours Later..._

Naruto was losing his patience as he waited, alongside the other lieutenants, for the officer of the 4th Division that was supposed to deliver the lastest update on the situation with Ichigo and the other intruders two hours ago.

After getting out of the underground sewers Naruto first headed to his room in the 13th Division to change into another shihakusho so as to not arouse suspicions with the tear that his earlier uniform now sported. After changing and placing his zanpakuto in his room he went to find his father. He managed to find his dad at the 5th Division Barracks and managed to get him to hold a meeting with the other shinobigami; before either Naruto or Minato could even look for the others, however, a Hell Butterfly came with orders for all lieutenants to head to their assembly area to receive the latest report on the "Ryoka Invasion".

Naruto and his dad had arrived at the meeting room first with Haku, Fugaku, and Hiruzen arriving shortly afterwards; Minato managed to inform the three of Naruto's encounter with Ichigo and of the meeting they would hold before all of the other lieutenants, minus Yachiru Kusajishi of the 11th Division, arrived.

As the lieutenants now waited for the report to arrive Naruto was talking with fell Renji as well as Rangiku Matsumoto, the lieutenant of the 10th Division.

"I guess I can't say I'm surprised; this Ichigo guy sounds way too much like myself and my predecessor Kaien, after all," Naruto said, making sure that he acted as though he had yet to meet Kurosaki.

Renji had just told Naruto of the conversation he had with Rukia as he escorted her to the Senzaikyū; the part where Rukia reacted to the knowledge that Ichigo was still alive was the part that Naruto was responding to.

"That may be true, Naruto, but I doubt he has as much skill as either of you," Rangiku said.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Lieutenant Matsumoto," another voice said in response; the three lieutenants turned around and were surprised to see that it was Fugaku that had replied.

"These intruders were able to defeat Jidanbō, survived an encounter with Captain Ichimaru and were able to able to breach the Soul Shield Membrane; we have to assume that they're all very strong and very dangerous if they have already caused this much trouble," the former head of the Uchiha clan explained without revealing everything else that he now knew, surprising both Ranji and Matsumoto.

"Do you really think the Ryoka are that much of a threat?" Rangiku asked to which Fugaku nodded.

"Of course I'm sure that the officer from the 4th Division will now prove my point," Fugaku said; as if on cue a man suddenly appeared at the door of the Assembly Room.

"3rd Seat of the 4th Division Yasochika Iemura, reporting," the man said; before he could say anything else, however, Naruto made his presence known to the 3rd Seat in two sentences.

"YOU'RE LATE! YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR THAT OR YOU CAN KISS YOUR SORRY ASS GOODBYE!" Naruto roared in a clearly irritated tone as Renji attempted to hold him back; the former shinobi already had too little time to waste on these reports and this officer had made it even worse.

Iemura's face paled as he tried not to provoke the Lieutenant, accidently or otherwise, any further; the 3rd Seat hadn't seen the Uzumaki lose his temper personally but had heard enough of the stories to know that he didn't want to get on Naruto's bad side... assuming he wasn't already there, that is.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Uzumaki; I was delayed due to some last minute updates of great importance," Iemura explained.

Naruto, having calmed down thanks to Renji'ss intervention, raised an eyebrow upon hearing the last part of the 3rd Seated Officer's explanation.

"_What could be so damned important that could've forced us to wait two hours more than we were supposed to?_" Naruto thought to himself; he would get his answer soon enough as Iemura immediately began reading the report that was in his hands...

_Five Minutes Later..._

"... the preliminary reports appear to suggest that the entire 11th Division, with the exceptions of Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, and the 4th Seated Officer Zabuza Momochi, was completely wiped out," Iemura said as he briefed the lieutenants on the part of the report regarding the events that had occured today as of right now; the first few minutes of the report were little more than summary of what had happened to this morning which, needless to say, annoyed several of the officers.

The mood changed, however, when Iemura briefed the lieutenants on the defeats of the 3rd Seated Officer Ikkaku Madarame and the 5th Seated Officer Yumichika Ayasegawa, both of whom were from the 11th Division; the fact that two high ranked officers were defeated by "Ryoka" was already a big shock. But an entire Division being beaten? The reactions of some of the lieutenants to this bit news were not very surprising.

"That's impossible!" Izuru Kira, the lieutenant of the 3rd Division, said.

"The 11th Division is gone?!" Renji asked in shock. The rage that he was suddenly feeling was understandable due to the fact that Ichigo was among the intruders and his close relations with his former division.

"How were these Ryoka able to do so much damage in just a few hours?" Chōjirō Sasakibe, the 1st Division Lieutenant, blurted out.

The shinobigami, while also feeling very bad for all the members 11th Division who were now casualties, thought of the defeat of the division in a more critical light compared to their fellow lieutenants even if they didn't say those thoughts out loud.

"_They charged headfirst into battle against an enemy without knowing who they were dealing with. What did they expect would happen?_" Fugaku asked rhetotically to himself.

"_The 11th Division is even more poorly disciplined than I imagined; I guess this also proves that Naruto was right about Kurosaki, though,_" Minato thought to himself.

"_Master Zabuza always said that the members of his Division were all talk, minus Captian Zaraki,_" Haku thought as he shook his head; he remembered that Zabuza had told him of his rather poor opinion of his own division.

"_Honestly, did they really want to start a war that badly?_" was the thought on Hiruzen's mind at that moment.

"_And people call me an idiot. I almost feel sorry for Zabuza since he has to deal with those dumbasses everyday,_" Naruto thought as he sighed.

After shaking off these thoughts they then continued listening to the report; as Iemura finished his report the Lieutenants went back to their respective barracks...

[Shinobigami Meeting Place, Undisclosed Location within the Seireitei]

_Sometime in the Evening..._

This secret chamber was a modest room by most standards; it was basically an semi-spherical interior with a two-story high ceiling which was solid bedrock and a small stone urn in the center in which a fire been burning. Inside this room Naruto and the other eight former shinobi stood in a circle; they had already finished discussing what had happened between Naruto and the intruders earlier that day as well as the plan of action they would now take.

"So that's the plan; any questions?" Naruto asked; as this meeting was his idea he was basically the one would be in charge of what the shinobigami planned to do now.

When no one answered Minato decided ask his son an important question of his own to ending the meeting so that they could all prepare for what they planned.

"Naruto were you able to retrieve it?" Minato asked.

"It was a pain to go through with it and I'm sure Rukia is going to kill me when she finds out, but that creep Mayuri was able to help me obtain it; I made sure that he wouldn't say anything about what happened until this is all over. I'll give it to Old Man Yama at that point," Naruto said, getting a nod from his father.

"I guess that's it, then," Minato said, ending the meeting.

With that everyone began to head towards the exit... except Naruto.

"Wait, Shisui-sensei; can I ask you something before you go?" Naruto asked; Shisui stopped in his tracks as Naruto waited for everyone to leave before he finally asked his mentor if he could help him with his Bankai training.

Shisui was taked by surprise at this sudden turnaround; though Naruto was had been more than capable of learning Bankai for quite some time he had not even attempted it due to his father's request to wait which Naruto had honored p until that time.

"Are you sure want to do that, Naruto? I'm sure Minato is going to protest-" Shisui said before Naruto interrupted him.

"Then I won't tell dad that I'm trying to obtain my Bankai; you know that we're going to have use everything we have to stop that damned Aizen. You said that you discovered a secret training area near Sōkyoku Hill so we can use that place to train," Naruto said.

Shisui sighed at this; the Uchiha guessed that, with Rukia now an unwilling pawn in Aizen's schemes, Naruto was now taking this matter very seriously and was not going to take no for an answer if he felt that this was something he had to do.

"I guess I can help you since it appears that you're not going to take no for an answer; understand, however, that I'm only . You do remember what my explanation about how one obtains his or her Bankai, right?" Shisui reminded him to which Naruto nodded.

"Very well, then; I guess I'll help you out. We should wait until tomorrow, however, as you still have that Lieutenant's meeting in the morning," Shisui pointed out.

Naruto groaned at remembering that; though his sensei was right in telling him to wait for that meeting, since their wouldn't be any more meetings, he was still getting tired of them.

"_With all these useless meetings I'm amazed that everyone else is surprised that Ichigo and his friends have evaded capture,_" Naruto thought to himself as he and his sensei left the meeting chamber for the night...

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill]

_The Next Day at Noon..._

"I can't believe a place this big has been hidden from everyone else right below the execution grounds; I wonder would go out of their ," Naruto said, rather amazed at the size of the place.

"I sometimes wonder about the same thing, though I guess that's a moot point," Shisui said, getting a nod from his longtime student.

"In any case we need to get started, since that snake Aizen is probably going to make his move at any moment," Naruto said; he, like the rest of the former shinobi, knew that they were running out of time to stop Aizen's plans.

The night and morning after the meeting had brought even more chaos to the Seireitei. There were many things that had happened in that time; Renji's defeat to Ichigo and the authorization for the use of one's zanpakuto made the tension in the Seireitei increase to unbearable levels. Then there was the Aizen's "murder" which only made the anxiety in the air worse for every; while most of the other shinigami were simply devastated by the "loss" of Aizen, especially the 5th Division 4th Seated Officer, Momo Hinamori, the former shinobi knew that this meant that Aizen had begun to make his move.

Realizing that it wouldn't be long before they had to confront Aizen his subordinates Naruto immediately excused himself from the growing commotion at the scene of Aizen's "murder" and went to find Shisui; after Naruto informed the Uchiha what had happened they both headed to the secret training room, flash stepping as quickly as that they could make sure that no one was following them.

Naruto shook off these thoughts before Shisui gave him one final warning.

"Before we begin Naruto I want that you understand this very well; even though we still have eight days until Rukia's execution there's still a chance that Aizen might try to push up the date much sooner than that. So to be safe I'm going to give you until this midnight to subjugate your zanpakuto second longer; if you can't do it by that time you'll just have to confront without a bankai," Shisui said, making sure that his student understood what he said word-for-word.

Naruto simply smirked in response to his sensei's warning.

"Then I'll just have to obtain my Bankai before then," Naruto replied confidently; though he was rather surprised at how little time he would be given Naruto knew that he was already pushing his and Rukia's luck enough as it is by taking this time to train so he would just have to work with what time he had.

"Very well, then; start by activating your Shikai," Shisui said as he set a timer for midnight; Naruto nodded before he unsheathed his blade.

"Open the floodgates, Kamikaze," Naruto said as he threw his zanpakuto into the air, the tip of the pointed towards the ceiling.

The blade then stopped midair as a small cloud suddenly formed above it; the cloud began growing in size and darkness until, after a few seconds, the cloud turned into a small thunderstorm a couple hundred yards wide. The moment the cloud reached this size a very powerful lighting bolt struck Naruto's blade, which was still hovering in the air. After the flash of light dissipated the blade fell into Naruto's grasp revealing Kamikaze's Shikai form.

The blade was now a lightning bolt that had been compressed into the shape of a chokutō sword (A/N: the type of sword that Sasuke wields in Naruto Shippuden) which was releasing small gusts of wind as Naruto held the blade. A small yellow tag was now attached to the base of the hilt with the Kanjis for lightning, water, and wind written on it.

"Now what, Shisui-sensei?" Naruto asked as he attempted to contain the sporadic release of wind from his blade.

"Have the spirit of Kamikaze materialize; I'll use my reiatsu to help maintain it long enough for you to try to subjugate him," Shisui explained ; since Naruto could only keep the spirit of Kamikaze materialized for a few hours without aid, due to the fact that he had only learned to do so very recently, Shisui would keep the zanpakuto spirit materialized until his student achieved Bankai... or until midnight arrived, whichever one came first.

Naruto, without saying another word, focused his reiatsu into his blade which in turn generated more light until an explosion of lighting radiated across the training grounds; had anyone been standing on the hill above the secret room they would've felt a slight tremor caused by the powerful shockwave generated by the explosion. Thankfully for both shinobigami no one was close enough to Sōkyoku Hill notice anything out of the ordinary.

As the light generated by the blast dissipated along the temporary loss of hearing caused by the subsequent thunderclap both Naruto and Shisui could hear another person, presumably a male from the sound of his voice, called out to them.

"Took you long enough to finally do that, don't you think... Lil' Naruto?" the voice said in a clearly mocking tone...

Next Time - Preparation Complete: The "Shinobigami" Move Out


	5. 4: Preparations Complete

**Chapter 4 – Preparations Complete: The "Shinobigami" Move Out**

**A/N: This is the last of Rocker1600's chapters. Next up are the chapters from TheUchiha'sLegacy.**

Please keep sending faves, follows, and reviews.

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill]

Recap:

_As the light generated by the blast dissipated along with the temporary loss of hearing caused by the subsequent thunderclap went away both Naruto and Shisui could hear another person, presumably a male from the sound of his voice, call out to them._

_"Took you long enough to finally do that, don't you think... Lil' Naruto?" the voice said in a clearly mocking tone..._

_Current Time..._

A giant vein popped out of Naruto forehead when he heard his zanapkuto's nickname for him.

"For once in your miserable life, Kamikaze, would you stop calling me that stupid nickname?!" Naruto said with great irritation as the spirit of Kamikaze became visible through the dissipating cloud of dust.

It was a man who appeared to be in his late teens who was around six feet tall with a lean build. He had spiky black hair that went well below his waist and was tied into a ponytail, as well as blood-red eyes with black slits due to the partial influence of Kurama's power.

Kamikaze wore what could only be described as a coat of lighting shaped into the form of the "samurai-like" armor that was once used by many shinobi before the founding of the shinobi villages; along with this armor the zanpakuto wore a black undershirt with sleeves that reached below his elbows, black pants that went to the middle of his shins, black shinobi sandals, a blood-red shinobi headband that had metal plate with the stylized leaf symbol of Konoha emblazoned on the metal, and a red sash tied around his waist. He held a blade in his right hand that was basically the pure lighting chokutō that Naruto would wield when using his Shikai except this one was a few inches shorter than that version and instead of a tag attached to the bottom of the hilt a thin rope made out of pure lighting was attached; the rope connected the sword to Kamikaze's sash and, with the rope being made of lightning, it could expand to whatever length the zanpakuto spirit desired.

As Naruto fumed at Kamikaze's "insult" the zanpakuto simply flashed a smile at his partner's irritation.

"But I like calling you that; it let's me push your buttons all the more easily, Lil' Naruto," Kamikaze said in response to the lieutenant's annoyance.

Naruto, not surprisingly, got even more steamed at his zanpakuto's mannerisms. Unlike the zanpakuto spirits of some of shinigami the other Kamikaze didn't have any issues with Naruto, or even Kurama for that matter, but the zanpakuto did enjoy annoying the hell out of both the Biju and his Jinchuriki just to get an amusing reaction from the two.

Shisui decided to refocus Naruto's attention on the task at hand before the Uzumaki tried to kill his own zanpakuto and end his life as a shinigami in the process.

"Enough of this nonsense, the both of you," Shisui demanded, getting the attention of both Naruto and Kamikaze before turning his attention to the zanpakuto.

"Now then, Kamikaze; based on your little conversation with Naruto it's obvious that you already know why you're here and that you've overheard what has been said so I won't ask. Once I stabilize your materialization I assume that you can begin right away?" Shisui asked the manifested zanpakuto.

"Yep," was the only reply Kamikaze gave.

As soon as the zanpakuto said that Shisui shunpoed in front of the zanpakuto and placed his hand on the manifested spirit's chest and began to channel some of his reiatsu into him until, after a minute or two, the Uchiha managed to completely stabilize the manifestation of the zanpakuto.

Once Shisui finished the manifested Kamikaze placed his left palm into the ground which apparently caused hundreds of blades, in the form of the spirit's Shikai, to emerge; all of these blades were stuck in the ground in a vertical position as Kamikaze picked on of them up as the blade and the rope it was attached to had suddenly vanished.

"Now then, Naruto, your challenge is very simple. One of these blades is the true me and is the only one that can defeat me; you have to find it before I can kill you since I'll attacking you the whole time entire, or before your time runs out, and defeat me with it. Oh and everytime you pick up the wrong blade there's a nasty... surprise that'll await you," Kamikaze explained.

The last part of the zanpakuto's explanation made Naruto shudder as his zanpakuto had a slightly dark sense of humor and he wasn't very shy about it. Naruto reached for the closest blade to him with a great deal of anxiety... and for good reason because the moment he made contact with the blade's hilt he was zapped but good by said blade before it disappeared.

After a couple of seconds Naruto regained feeling in his right hand at which point he turned to glare at the smiling Kamikaze.

"You are a cruel man, you know that?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Now, now, Lil' Naruto, being a critic isn't going to help you get bankai any sooner," Kamikaze said which provoked his wielder even further.

After Naruto attempted to grab another blade, and getting zapped as a result, he turned to face his zanpakuto just as he dodged his zanpakuto's first attack.

"When I get my hands on the true you you're so dead, Kamikaze," Naruto declared as he conitnued his effforts to find the "true" Kamikaze...

* * *

(A/N: I'm going to skip this fight since it would take too long for me to write especially due to the nature of this chapter)

_Almost Six Hours Later..._

...which he managed to do, over four hours after the training had begun.

It had not been an easy task, of course, and the fact that he had to find the correct blade while the manisfested Kamikaze was continously attacking him made the task more daunting. Eventually, however, Naruto found the blade that was the true form of Kamikaze and, after fighting the manifested zanpakuto spirit for another grueling hour, the Uzumaki managed to defeat Kamikaze using a combination of swordsmanship, a combination various Kido spells, and the Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode to finally subjugate Kamikaze and obtain his bankai.

After Kamikaze took half an hour to explain the nature of his bankai to Naruto the shinobigami finally undid his zanpakuto's manifestation. With another two hours before the next scheduled lieutenant's meeting, he used the special hot spring located within the training area to heal himself since the training he'd just undergone left him too seriously injured for even Kurama to heal his wounds quickly without any aid.

As Naruto quickly got himself dressed in another shihakusho he turned to Shisui who had just woken up from a short nap he had taken while waiting for his student.

"Did you sense those approaching reiatsus, sensei?" Naruto asked to which the Uchiha nodded.

"Yeah, and they're clearly not a members of the Gotei 13 whom I'm aware of; based on the huge amounts of reiatsu these two must be with the intruders," Shisui reasoned.

Naruto smirked at this.

"Oh, they definitely are, Shisui-sensei; after all I fought one of those two intruders earlier," Naruto said just as the sources of the reiatsu appeared.

One of them was a dark-skinned woman who was a little over five feet tall with a slender figure, golden colored eyes that were cat-like in appearance, and long purple hair that she kept in a ponytail. She wore an orange shirt, under which she wore what appeared to be a black undershirt, black stretch pants, light brown shoes and a pale brown sash that she wore around her waist.

The woman was not the one who had Naruto's attention, however; it was the other person who the woman was carrying on her shoulder... an unconcious and badly injured Ichigo.

While Naruto stood there, looking at Ichigo's condition in shock, Shisui focused his attention on the woman.

"You must be one of the intruders, correct?" the Uchiha asked to which the woman nodded in reply.

Shisui raised an eyebrow at this.

"Why did you come to this place if they're two potential enemies already here? With your level of power I'm sure you would've detected us," he asked with curiosity.

Even though Shisui could tell that this woman was easily at the level of a captain based on her reiatsu, despite her efforts to hide it, the Uchiha thought that this woman would not come here when there were two potential threats in the area. While Shisui, Naruto, and the other Shinobigami intended to help with Rukia's rescue there was no way she could've known about that... or so Shisui thought.

The woman simply smirked.

"Considering the fact that you two haven't attacked me yet I'm pretty sure that's not the case especially since you shinobigami plan to rescue Rukia as well... Naruto Uzumaki and Shisui Uchiha," the women rhetorically asked in a teasing tone.

Both Shisui and Naruto couldn't believe what this woman just said; she not only knew their names she also knew about their group's plan. Naruto did what most shinigami would've probably expected the Uzumaki to do in that situation; he unleashed a massive barrage of questions upon the mysterious woman.

"How did you know who we are and what were planning? Who the hell are you? Why are you here? What are doing carrying Ichigo on your shoulder? And why does he look like he got into a fight with the eyepatch psycho?" Naruto asked (A/N: If you can't figure it out that's the nickname Naruto uses to refer to Kenpachi Zaraki), unaware of just how on the mark he actually was.

Shisui's eyes widened upon hearing his student's last question... but for a very different reason than one might expect.

"_So that boy she's carrying on her shoulder is Ichigo Kurosaki; no wonder Naruto took an interest in him... with all that reiatsu that he has it's amazing that he's just a human,_" the Uchiha thought to himself as the women simply smiked at Naruto's questioning.

"Well... it'll take a while to explain it all to you so I'll start off with an introduction. My name is Yoruichi Shihoin," the now named Yoruichi said...

* * *

[Shinobigami Meeting Place]

_The Following Night..._

Naruto was in the hideout with the rest of the former shinobi dicussing the furthering of their plans to save Rukia recent and to stop Aizen as well as the recent turn of events; needless to say it was a very long turn.

The first, and the most important, was Naruto and Shisui's talk with the intruder named Yoruichi, who explained the situation regarding Ichigo and 13 the other intruders. Ichigo had tried to break Rukia out of the Senzaikyū but Yoruichi was forced to render him unconcious and bring him to the secret training ground after Byakuya and Ukitake arrived at the holding cell. Yoruichi then told the two former shinobi that she intended to train Ichigo in order to have him obtain his own bankai in order to save Rukia. Neither shinobi really questioned the possibility since the orange-haired shinigami had the necessary reiatsu to acheive that level.

Though she left a few of Naruto's questions unanswered they really didn't have that time to receive the answers for them due to the lieutenants meeting due to begin an hour from then the three shinigami decided to simply focus on their individual rescue efforts for the time being.

After exiting the training area Naruto made a beeline to the lieutenant's meeting which he got to with ten minutes to spare.

After the meeting, which was late at night, Naruto and the other shinobigami headed to their secret meeting place.

"Does everyone know what to do?" Naruto asked, referring to the various "jobs" that he and the other former shinobi were going to do as part of their plans to save Rukia. The others nodded in response; despite having to adjust their plans to the situation the changes weren't very drastic so they were implemented very quickly.

Naruto sighed in relief at this since he really didn't have time for setbacks; the fact that Rukia's execution had been moved to the following and the fact that the young lieutenant had to juggle around with three different rescue attempts (the shinobigami, the intruders, and both Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku were all trying to save Rukia's life) meant that he had little time for setbacks.

"All right, then; let's get some rest. The fight begins tomorrow," Naruto declared; as the former shinobi dispersed he realized that tomorrow was going to be a very _long _day...

Next Time – The Forestalled Ambition


	6. 5: The Foresalled Ambition Part 1

**Chapter 5: The Forestalled Ambition**

**A/N: This is the beginning of TheUchiha'sLegacy chapters; my chapters begin in chapter 18. Also, I have changed around a few things on these chapters, such as honorifics and zanpakuto names, and Kido spells. **

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Current Time..._

Yamamoto Genryusai stared at Rukia as she stood on top of the platform, all tied up for her execution. "Release the Sokyoku!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" The Kido Corps surrounded the Sokyoku and clasped their hands together in a form of a hand seal. The ropes that were attached to the poles on the ground slowly began to come apart, eventually snapping. They began to circle the Sokyoku lazily, growing faster with each passing second until the ropes bounding the halberd unwound and sped towards the ground, stabbing into it.

Rukia stared up at the Sokyoku as she thought back to when she and Gin had their little exchange at the bridge. _Even though Ichimaru troubled my heart at that moment, little by little, my peace is returning… But is this because of the Captain-Commander's promise? Or perhaps it's because when Nii-sama saw me disturbed, clinging shamefully to life, he shut me out without even a hint of doubt…_

… "Thank you so much, Nii-sama," said Rukia quietly as three cubes surfaced from the platform.

The rope bounding Rukia's hands together suddenly faded away, and the three cubed placed themselves in front of Rukia's hands and feet. Rukia started to float up to the scaffold, and the halberd suddenly erupted into flames, a pillar of fire surrounding it and dissipating to reveal a gigantic phoenix at least two to three times the size of the colossal scaffold.

"Kikoo," said the Captain-Commander as he stared up at the majestic phoenix. "The true form of the Sokyoku blade, and the final enforcer of the death penalty. Once he pierces the criminal, the death penalty will be over."

As the captains and the other bystanders stood in awe of Kikoo, Rukia's eyes grew wide as she saw the phoenix. The majestic Sokyoku reared its neck and screeched, spreading out its wings as it prepared to charge.

Rukia bowed her head as it sped at her, finally at peace.

_Meanwhile…_

"Captain, aren't you finished yet?!" Naruto pranced around he said this, getting more and more impatient by the minute.

Ukitake frowned at this. "Patience, Naruto. These kinds of things take time!" He suddenly clapped his hands together a few seconds later as a cloud of smoke seeped out behind the closed doors. "It's finally finished!"

Naruto clenched his hands into a tight fist and rushed out the door. "I'm going on ahead!" he yelled as he sped towards Sokyoku Hill. "I'll save Rukia, so get over to Sokyoku Hill with the shield as soon as possible!"

"N-Naruto!" Ukitake called out as he rushed to open the sealed artifact. "Wait for me!"

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Meanwhile..._

"Huh?" Rukia opened her eyes, confused by the fact that she hadn't been pierced by the Sokyoku yet. "W-What's going on here…?"

"Are you alright, Rukia?"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice. She slowly lifted her head to see an orange-haired figure standing in front of her, amazingly blocking the gigantic phoenix with his Zanpakuto using just one hand. "I-Ichigo…? Is that you, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked back and grinned at Rukia. "Yea, it's me. I've come to save you, Rukia," he said coolly.

Rukia's lips started to tremble, and she bowed her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "Y-You idiot… I told you… I told you not to rescue me…!"

Ichigo looked confused. "Huh?"

Rukia's head shot up, and Ichigo raised an eyebrow as she scowled at him comically. "YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME AND RESCUE ME! WHY DID YOU COME TO RESCUE ME?!"

"OY OY OY!" raged Ichigo. "What do you mean, 'why did you come to rescue me?'" You're supposed to thank me you idiot!"

Rukia stuck out her bottom lip as she turned her head away. "Hmph! I never asked you to!"

Ichigo scowled at her. "Why you little-!"

"ICHIGO! RUKIA!"

Ichigo and Rukia looked down to see Naruto speeding towards them as he waved at them. "Oy, Naruto!" yelled Ichigo as he waved back at him using his free hand. "It's about time you came!"

Naruto activated Kurama's Shroud and used his chakra arms to hoist himself up on the scaffold, releasing the mode right after. "What took you so long?" asked Ichigo.

"I was with Old Man Ukitake," Naruto responded. He looked around the area, a frustrated look on his face. "Just where is he…?"

"Whoa!"

Naruto head snapped around as he was Ichigo stumble, the Sokyoku withdrawing for a second strike. "Watch out, Ichigo!" warned Naruto. "That thing has been said to power of one million Zanpakuto's! You won't survive the next attack!"

Ichigo grimaced as he glared at the phoenix, a determined look on his face. "Che! This is nothing! I got this, Naruto!"

Sui-Feng narrowed her eyes as she stared at Ichigo. _Who is that guy…? The Sokyoku is said to contain to contain the offensive and defensive abilities of one million Zanpakuto's, and yet this __**kid**__ was able to hold it back… with just one hand? What kind of power is this…?_

Her eyes suddenly widened in shock as a velvet-colored rope wrapped itself around the charging phoenix's neck, halting its attack. The golden pole attached to the end of the rope slammed into the ground, holding the phoenix in place. _Ukitake Jushiro…?_ said Sui-Feng to herself.

Shunsui suddenly appeared in front of the pole, placing his hand on it to stabilize it. "Yo, Ukitake! You sure like to make people wait, don't ya?"

"I'm sorry," replied Ukitake as he glanced over at Shunsui. "The release took me a while… but, now we're good to go!"

Sui-Feng clenched her teeth in frustration as she recognized the crest on the shield. _That's… the Shihoin clan seal!_

Shunsui and Ukitake both drew their Zanpakuto's and slammed the blade into the shield, activating it. The velvet-colored rope that was binding the Sokyoku began to glow, and the flame quickly traveled up the rope towards the trapped phoenix.

BOOM! The Sokyoku exploded as the Shihoin Shield activated, and large chunks of fire rained down on the people below. _Impossible!_ thought Sui-Feng to herself as she shielded her face with her arms.

Ichigo performed a backflip and landed on the scaffold. Rukia looked up at him. "W-Wait, Ichigo! What are you doing?"

"Just shut up and watch," said Ichigo as he grabbed the piece of cloth that was attached to Zangetsu. He threw his Zanpakuto up into the air and started to twirl it in the air. He suddenly yanked at the cloth and grabbed the hilt of the oversized katana, holding it blade down. His eyes flared as it turned clear-blue, and a massive burst of reiatsu enveloped Ichigo, powering him up. He slammed the point of Zangetsu into the scaffold, and it began to glow blue.

THUD! A giant of dust enveloped the whole entire area as the scaffold exploded; it slowly dissipated to reveal the main part of the scaffold completely destroyed.

... "You never shut up about how I shouldn't rescue you and how I should just go home… I told you, didn't I? Your opinions are just gonna keep getting ignored," said Ichigo as he held Rukia.

Rukia gave Ichigo a sad smile. "Yeah…"

Isane looked up at the scaffold, a look of disbelief on her face. "I-Impossible… The Sokyoku stand is…"

"OY, ICHIGO!"

Ichigo looked ahead to see Renji drop the unconscious body of a Kido Corps member on the ground, his Zanpakuto in his hand. "Wh-What…?" Rukia stared at him, her eyes wide. A huge smile slowly spread across her face. "R-Renji! Thank goodness you're alive, Renji!"

"Alright," said Ichigo lazily. He slowly lifted Rukia into the air and glanced over at Renji. "Get ready, Renji."

"Huh?" Rukia looked up Ichigo. "W-Wait, Ichigo! What are you going to do?"

Renji's face turned blue as he realized what Ichigo was going to do. "Wait, hey! You aren't planning to…"

"Take her!" yelled Ichigo as he threw Rukia at Renji like a football.

"AHHHHH!" screamed Rukia as she flew towards Renji. "Y-You baka!" screamed Renji as she crashed into him.

"Oy, you dumbass!" scolded Naruto as he smacked Ichigo across the head. "What the hell was that for?!"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he pouted. "W-Well, I just thought that it was a cool thing to do at the moment…"

"You idiot!" Naruto repeated. "You're just lucky she wasn't hurt, or I'd beat the crap out of you!" He shook his head and pulled a paper bomb out of his uniform. "Get ready!" he said, throwing the paper bomb on the broken scaffold.

* * *

_In various locations throughout Seireitei…_

Kushina, Mikoto, and Fugaku all looked up at Sokyoku Hill as they saw a mini-explosion. Upon seeing the signal they of them all simultaneously grabbed a smoke bomb from underneath their uniforms and threw them on the ground, after which they flash stepped towards the hill where Naruto was at.

The Shinigami that were spread throughout Seireitei looked at the four giant pillars of smoke that rose up from four various locations, all of them confused as to what they were. "Let's go and check it out!" said a random Shinigami, calling out to his comrades as he rushed towards a random pillar of smoke.

* * *

_With Naruto and Ichigo..._

"They're gone," Ichigo stated as he watched Renji run through the area with Rukia in his arms.

"Yea…" Naruto looked down and saw Hiruzen and Haku amidst the crowd of witnesses that were gathered on the hill. Naruto suddenly seemed to disappear as he flash stepped to their side. "Hey, Jiji, Haku!"

"Naruto-san!" exclaimed Haku. "Wh-?"

"There's no time," said Naruto, shaking his head. "I need you and Jiji to go after Renji and Rukia and make sure that they're ok."

Hiruzen nodded. "Got it," he replied before he flash stepped away with Haku followed him closely behind.

Sui-Feng narrowed her eyes as she glared at her vice-captain flash stepping away. "Haku, you traitor… I'll make sure to destroy you with my own two-!"

THUD! "What?!" exclaimed Sui-Feng as she went speeding past the other Shinigami's and off the cliff. "Wh-Who are you, you?!"

The unknown figure remained silent as he/she continued to hold tight onto her. Sui-Feng narrowed her eyes as she grabbed the assailant's arm. "I asked you… who you were!" she roared as she threw him/her over her shoulders.

The figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind a surprised Sui-Feng, kicking her in the back and sending her flying into a tree. Sui-Feng balanced herself in mid-air and grabbed a branch of the tree, flipping over and landing on the branch safely. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the figure. _There's only one person in all of Soul Society that could move that fast…_

"Shihoin… Yoruichi!" spat Sui-Feng as she glared at the figure.

"Heh, it looks like you recognized me, Sui-Feng."

"I see," said Sui-Feng as she gave Yoruichi. "Just because you've been gone a long time doesn't necessarily mean that you've raised your skills."

Yoruichi removed her mask and smiled at her. "It looks like _your_ skills have dulled quite a bit, on the other hand."

"Don't be so full of yourself," said Sui-Feng, a tone of danger in her voice. "When will you stop thinking that you're so better than us?! Both the Secret Mobile Corps and the Correction Corps are under _my_ control now!"

Yoruichi's eyes grew wide as Sui-Feng drew her Zanpakuto. "Your days are numbered…" stated Sui-Feng as she slammed the point of her katana into the tree. "… Shihoin Yoruichi!"

Yoruichi blinked as twenty members of the Secret Mobile Corps suddenly surrounded her.

"Now, let's see…"

* * *

_Back in Sokyoku Hill…_

Shunsui tipped his hat as he grinned. "Well," he said as he grabbed Ukitake by the hem of his captain's uniform. "I guess that it's time to disappear, huh?"

Ukitake's eyes grew wide. "W-Wait, what?"

"Let's go!" exclaimed Shunsui as he sped towards the edge of the cliff, dragging his fellow captain along with him.

Yamamoto Genryusai watched as they jumped off of the cliff, his face unreadable.

"Lieutenant Abarai, please stop!" called out Isane as she and Sasakibe Chojiro ran after him. Renji, however, ignored her and kept on moving forward.

"Whoa!" Isane and Chojiro stopped as they felt something in front of them, and Renji looked back and grinned.

Ichigo suddenly appeared in front of them, his cloak flapping behind him; Naruto appeared by his side, his Zanpakuto in his hand. "I'm afraid that I can't let you two pass," stated Ichigo as he stared hard at them.

"**Run, Itegumo **(Frozen Cloud)!" Isane cried out as she unsheathed her Zanpakuto. Her katana began to glow, and the blade slowly turned much more thin as two smaller and thinner blades protruded from either side of the hilt at a 45 degree angle.

"**Pierce, Gonryomaru **(Stern Spirirt)!" said Chojiro as he raised his Zanpakuto up to his face. The blade began to glow, and it slowly thinned out into a rapier-like sword.

"What?!"

Isane watched as Ichigo slammed the point of his Zanpakuto into the ground and quickly dispatched Chojiro with a simple uppercut to the jaw. _I-Impossible! He managed to defeat Lieutenant Sasakibe without even using his Zanpakuto?!_

Ichigo turned to Isane and flickered to her side, kneeing her in the stomach before she could even react. "Ugh!" Isane fell on the ground, and she stared up at Ichigo before she blacked out. _H-He's way too strong for us… Just who is he…?_

Ichigo felt something speeding towards him and grabbed his Zanpakuto, swiftly turning around to meet Kuchiki Byakuya's charge head on, their Zanpakuto's clashing together as Ichigo glared at him, his eyes narrowed.

"I can see you, Kuchiki Byakuya," said Ichigo calmly.

Byakuya simply blinked, his face immobile. "Kurosaki Ichigo, do not be so arrogant. Just because you were barely able to match my speed does not mean that you are a match for me."

Naruto glanced at the two unconscious vice-captains and nodded. "Well, I'm off then, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked surprised. "What? You're going, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned at him. "I trust you Ichigo. You can defeat Byakuya."

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock as Naruto said this. "I'm going to stop this madness once and for all," said Naruto as he turned around to leave. "You take care of things here, Ichigo."

Ichigo smiled as he bent his head. "You got it." He lifted his head to lock eyes with the captain of the 6th Division. "I'll definitely beat him.

Naruto stayed still for a brief second before sighing. "Let's finish this," he said; and with that, he disappeared.

Naruto flew past a column of buildings, quickly spinning around on his feet and flash stepping past a giant wall and speeding towards the Central 46 Compound as fast as he could. _I sure that you were right about me having the fastest flash step in all of Soul Society, dad. If what I'm worried about is right, I'm gonna need it._

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Let's move!"

Zabuza, Yachiru, Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and Ganju ran past a group of Shinigami's as Zabuza and Yachiru led the group to Sokyoku Hill. "Wait, stop!" ordered Zabuza as he skidded to a halt.

"W-What is it, Zabuza-san?" asked Orihime.

Zabuza looked down at the ground. "I want you guys to stay here." He glanced back at the tiny pink-haired vice-captain who was staring up at him. "Yachiru-fukutaichou, please stay here with the others. I'll go up to Sokyoku Hill myself and get rid of any threats myself."

Yachiru gave the 4th Seat a huge smile. "Sure thing, Momo-chan!"

...

Orihime and the others snickered at this. "Momo-chan," snickered Ishida. He quickly fell silent and straightened up as Zabuza glared at him. "J-Just kidding, Z-Zabuza-san!"

Zabuza sighed at this before turning to Yachiru. "I'm off."

Orihime and the other's- excluding Yachiru of course- eyes widened in surprise as Zabuza suddenly disappeared using flash step. "S-So fast…" stuttered Orihime.

* * *

[Central 46 Compound, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Meanwhile..._

Minato and Shisui flash stepped to the front of the Central 46 Compound, looking around to see if there was anyone around. "Well, the outside's empty," observed Shisui. He turned around to look at Minato. "What now, Minato-san?"

"There's not time to waste," said Minato as he ran towards the door. "I have a bad feeling about something. Catch up when you can!"

And with that, he disappeared.

_A Few Minutes Later..._

Hinamori threw herself into her captain's arms, tears leaking out of her eyes as she looked up at him. "Captain A-Aizen..." Her lips started to tremble as she looked down, and she started to sob, unable to help herself.

Aizen gave Hinamori a genuine smile as she sobbed into his arms. "There there, Hinamori. Everything will be fine…"

"C-captain A-Aizen…" sobbed Hinamori. "I-I'm so glad that y-you're ok…" Busy crying, she didn't notice her captain pull his Zanpakuto out of its sheath.

"Farewell, Hinamori," whispered Aizen, his blade speeding towards Hinamori's heart.

"What…?" Aizen's eyes grew wide as Minato suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his sword with his own.

"Minato," said Aizen, his usual fake smile on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Aizen," Minato responded, his eyes narrowed. "You tried to kill your 4th Seat?"

"I was trying to save her from the agony of having to live without me," stated Aizen, spreading his arms out wide. "It's my way of helping her out. What else would you have me do, Minato?"

"W-Wait," said Hinamori as she stared up at Aizen, her eyes wide. "W-What's g-going on h-here, Captain Aizen?"

"Nothing, Hinamori." Minato looked down at her and gave her a gently look. "It's nothing that you need to worry about just yet."

Hinamori looked at him. "L-lieutenant N-Namikaze?"

"Sleep," whispered Minato, tapping Hinamori's head gently with his fingers. Her eyes started to droop, and she fell down into a kneeling position, her eyes fluttering close. "Aizen-…"

"Very impressive, Minato," said Aizen. "Even without an incantation…"

Minato gently placed the unconscious Hinamori on the floor and looked up at Aizen. "Minato!"

Minato and Aizen looked around to see Shisui, Hitsugaya Toshiro, and his vice-captain Matsumoto Rangiku crashing through the door. "Hitsugaya-taichou!" exclaimed Minato.

"Lieutenant Namikaze." Hitsugaya looked at Aizen, and then at the sleeping Hinamori on the floor. "Momo… Just what the hell's going on here?!"

"Do not worry, Captain Hitsugaya. I just put her to sleep for a while," explained Minato as he kept his eyes on Aizen. "I just caught Aizen trying to stab her in the heart, and I was barely able to stop him."

"Aizen…" Hitsugaya glared at him, his eyes turning icy-blue. "I'll kill you for thi-!"

"No, Captain Hitsugaya," said Minato, holding his arm out in front of the captain of the 10th Division. "Please take Hinamori and get out of here."

"Like hell we will!" Hitsugaya glared at Minato. "I don't exactly know what's going on here, but-!"

"Please!"

Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide for a brief second before softening. "Captain, let's leave this to them," said Rangiku softly, putting her hand on his shoulders. "We should get Hinamori out of here."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes. "Lieutenant Namikaze… I'm counting on you."

Minato nodded. "Understood. Now please, leave this to me and Shisui." His eyes suddenly grew hard as he looked down at the floor. "We'll take of Aizen once and for all."

Hitsugaya nodded and scooped Hinamori into his arms, flash stepping away with Rangiku. As soon as they disappeared, Minato and Shisui turned to face Aizen. "Why are you willing to confront your own captain so easily, Minato? Don't you feel any regret or guilt for what you're about to do?"

Minato stared at his captain, his gaze unwavering. "I've never trusted you; even when I first met you, I knew that there was something off about you. I _also_ knew that you were aware of my suspicions about you this whole time, so don't try and play any games with me. I was always ready to fight you if the time ever came; I had always hoped that I was wrong, but it seems that my suspicions were correct."

Aizen smiled at this. "I see…"

"We _will_ defeat you, Aizen Sosuke!" said Minato, a determined look on his face. He turned to Shisui and nodded, and Shisui slowly drew his Zanpakuto from its sheath. "You got that right," said Shisui.

Minato and Shisui both pointed their Zanpakuto's at Aizen, calling out their respective Shikai commands.

"**Flash, Hiraishin **(Thunder God)!"

"**Protect from the Shadows, Karusa no Hansha** (Reflection of the Crow)!"

* * *

Next Time - The Forestalled Ambition, Part 2

**A/N: For those who don't get the joke with Yachiro calling Zabuza "Momo-chan," Zabuza's last name, Momochi, roughly translates to "peach soil."**


	7. 6: The Forestalled Ambition Part 2

**Chapter 6: The Forestalled Ambition Part 2**

Disclaimer: Still applies

[Central 46 Compound, Seireitei, Soul Society]

"**Flash, Hiraishin **(Thunder God)!"

"**Protect from the Shadows, Karusa no Hansha **(Reflection of the Crow)!"

As Minato and Shisui's Zanpakuto's began to glow, Minato's began to shrink down in size dramatically, the middle of the katana splitting into two. Once the Zanpakuto finished transforming, Minato was seen holding two kunai's that were similar to the Hiraishin Kunai's that he had used in the ninja world, but the blades on these were much more edged and defined, giving it an almost strange trident-like appearance. A yellow-white current of electricity ran through both blades. The kunai had white metallic blades, and the handles were made of some kind of sleek black wood with the kanji for "thunder" written vertically on the handles in white.

Shisui's Zanpakuto, however, stayed the same in size; instead of the shape of the blade, the blade gained a clear transparent polish that gave it the appearance of a mirror. The tsuba remained the same shape as well, but it seemed to house what seemed to be a crow's eye in the center of the tsuba although Aizen couldn't tell as it closed right on materialization. The hilt turned into a midnight-blue color, and at the end of the pommel was a couple of crow's feathers that was somehow attached to it.

Aizen's eyes widened slightly as he was Shisui's Zanpakuto in Shikai form. "I must say that I'm… _surprised_ to see your Zanpakuto's true form, Shisui-san," he said with a slight chuckle. "I thought that you hadn't shown it to anyone, and yet here it is."

Minato, who had been staring silently at the floor, slowly lifted his eyes to stare at Aizen, slowly lifting his right kunai as well and pointing it at Aizen. "Sosuke Aizen… I'm afraid that we have to take you out right here and now."

Aizen smiled as he spread his arms out wide as if he was embracing Minato's threat. "I'm afraid that it might not be as easy as you two might think it is, Minato, but feel free to try nonetheless."

"Let's end this!" shouted Shisui as he charged at him, Minato following closely behind.

"Wait, Shisui!" ordered Minato as he skidded to a halt. He grabbed Shisui's shoulder and motioned to the door. "Don't you hear anything outside?"

Shisui narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the outside of the building. "It sounds like there's some fighting going on outside, but wha-?"

Minato and Shisui ducked as a figure came flying through the door, his sword barely missing the tips of their heads by a millimeter. Aizen glanced sideways at the figure as he/she landed by his side. "Oh, so you're here…"

Minato glanced at the figure as he straightened up, his eyes narrowing as he saw him. "…Gin Ichimaru," said Minato slowly.

"So another traitor appears," stated Shisui as he stared at Gin calmly. "It seems that we were right about you after all… You were with Aizen this whole time, weren't you?"

Gin tilted his head to the side as he stared at Minato and Shisui with his snake-like stare. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about, Shisui-san," he said, his seemingly-permanent grin plastered on his face. "I was just strolling through Seireitei when I heard some shoutin' coming from this direction, so I thought that I'd come by and see watsup."

"Gin Ichimaru," growled Minato. "You were always the suspicious one; even more than Aizen, I might add. I'm not surprised at all."

"Gin, what happened?" asked Aizen, his eyes still focused on Minato and Shisui.

Gin's grin grew even bigger. "He's gotten even stronger, _Captain_ _Aizen_," he said in his usual mocking tone. "Seems like we needa watch ourselves around him, am I right?"

THUD! The area near the door exploded as Naruto came speeding into the building, his Shikai activated and cloaked in Kurama's Shroud. "And speak of the devil," said Gin as he stared at Naruto.

Minato glanced at his son before turning his gaze back to Aizen. "As late as always, huh, Naruto?"

Naruto maintained a cool look as he glanced at his father. "Captain Ukitake took too long releasing the Shihoin Shield," he stated casually. "It wasn't my fault you know. Anyways, no one's hurt or killed, so no worries."

He turned his gaze to Aizen, the traitorous captain staring calmly at him. "Now, Aizen…" Naruto clenched his free hand into a fist as he glared at him. "Just what are you after?"

Aizen smiled at Naruto and whispered something as he sheathed his Zanpakuto, surprising everyone in the room with the exception of Gin. "What do I want, Uzumaki-kun? That's a very good question indeed… Just what _do_ I want? Money? Power? Maybe all of Soul Society perhaps?"

"Stop playing games and answer me!" demanded Naruto.

Aizen chuckled softly. "Very well… What I want is… Rukia Kuchiki."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "R-Rukia…? Just what the hell are you talking about?! If you wanted her so badly, you would have gone after her when she was about to be executed!"

Aizen closed his eyes and shook his head. "You're not understanding my point here, Uzumaki-kun. You and your… former _shinobi_ have constantly hindered my plans for quite some time. After I dispose of you and your tiresome comrades, my plan is to acquire a certain item which was placed… inside of your friend Rukia Kuchiki's soul. I plan to take back what belongs to me, and after that, I will dispose of the pawn – Naruto growled at this – with my own two hands."

Naruto looked at the floor, his face unreadable. "What… did you call her?" He blinked. "Tell me, Aizen. What did you just call Rukia?"

Aizen smiled at this. "I called her a pawn. Is there a problem?"

Naruto bared his teeth as he looked up at Aizen, his eyes wide and full of malice. "Never… call her… that… again… I'll fucking kill you!"

Aizen's smile grew even bigger as he stared at Naruto, looking like he was enjoying tormenting him. "Well, I wonder how you'll manage to do that, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto closed his eyes as he began to feel his rage surge up from inside of him. _I'll do it! I'll fucking-!_

"_Naruto!"_

* * *

[A Replica of Konoha, Naruto's Mind]

Naruto's eyes flew open as he heard Kamikaze's voice. He looked around to find himself inside of his mind once more, which was basically an exact replica of Konoha; he himself being on the top of the Hokage's Monument.

Konoha was surrounded by a gigantic unmoving hurricane-like storm, and the storm had blocked out the earth as well as the sky. The sky was dark-grey, and the thunder rolled from their home above the sky. Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sky, breathing in the ice-cold air as he felt the gentle beating of the rain against his face.

Kamikaze appeared next to Naruto placed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you calm now, Naruto?" asked Kamikaze, his voice surprisingly serious for once.

"Can't you see that Aizen's just trying to get you worked up?" Kamikaze's grip on his shoulder tightened as he said this.

Naruto opened his eyes and glanced sideways at his Zanpakuto's spirit, glaring at him. "I know that, Kamikaze! I don't need you to-!"

Naruto suddenly stopped talking as he felt something poking his neck. He rolled his eyes down to find the point Kamikaze's blade gently pressing his neck. "If you truly want to protect your friends and comrades, then all you need to do is keep your rage under control. You're stronger than him, Naruto, and you're not alone."

Naruto's eyes grew wide as Kamikaze said this. "You have me, Kurama, your fellow shinobigami's, and even the Ryoka's that came to save Rukia. As long as you don't give into Aizen's attempts to manipulate you, you can succeed."

Kurama, who was trying to rest on the ground behind them, snorted. "Don't mind me; just trying to take a nap over here…"

Naruto remained silent for a few moments. "Kamikaze, you…" He looked up and gave his Zanpakuto spirit a huge grin. "Despite taunting me all the time, you've always been with me and Kurama to give us a hand, haven't you? I guess that even someone as happy-go-lucky and crazy as you has their moments!"

Kamikaze sniffed at this. "Everyone has to be serious at time- even someone like me."

Naruto looked down at the ground and smiled. "I guess that I should expect as much from my own Zanpakuto."

* * *

[Back in the Real World]

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at the now-surprised Aizen, a huge grin on his face. _I wonder what happened to him…_ thought Aizen to himself as he stared at the changed boy.

Minato smiled as he glanced sideways at his son. _I wonder if he and his Zanpakuto managed to have a talk…_

Naruto looked around and noticed something peculiar. _Wait a second… That conversation took almost twenty minutes, but it feels like only couple of seconds had passed here…_

"Well, I'm waiting, Uzumaki-kun," said Aizen.

Naruto raised his sword and got into a fighting position, a serious look on his face. "I'll make sure that you don't get into my head again… and I promise you'll never lay a finger on Rukia... Aizen!"

The smile on Aizen's face disappeared. "You shouldn't get so full of yourself," he said, his eyes narrowed. "Fear not, Uzumaki-kun. I will soon show you the error of what you just said."

Shisui, who had slowly backed up so that he was almost directly behind Minato, raised his Zanpakuto to his face, his eyes closed.

"**Karasu no Sutea** (The Crow's Stare)," he whispered quietly, opening his eyes to reveal his Sharingan.

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

"Lieutenant Abari!"

Renji stopped and turned around to see Haku and Hiruzen running up to them. "Haku! Hiruzen!"

"Good to see you're still not tired out," said Hiruzen as glanced over Renji. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Renji grinned. "Not really. I'm still sore from my battle with Captain Kuchiki, but other than that, I'm good to go."

Hiruzen nodded. "Very well then. Haku, go ahead and lead the way. I'll stay in the back in case anyone tries to intercept us along the way."

Haku nodded and sprung forward. "Let's go," he said as he sped across the plain; Renji and the others followed closely behind.

After twenty or so minutes of running, Renji glanced behind at Hiruzen. "So, Lieutenant Hiruzen," he started. "What's all of this about?"

Hiruzen closed his eyes for a brief second before answering. "Sosuke Aizen has betrayed Soul Society," he said bluntly.

Renji and Rukia's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" exclaimed Renji. "Captain Aizen… a traitor?! Impossible!"

Haku shook his head. "I'm afraid that it's true. It seems that he was after a certain item, and apparently it had something to do with your execution, Rukia."

Rukia pointed to herself. "M-Me?"

"Yes," said Haku. "He was aiming for you to be killed so that he could somehow use that to get the item that he wanted."

Renji clenched his teeth. "That lousy piece of shit! That scumbag! That traitor! I'll kill him and all of his subordinates for what they've done!"

Hiruzen reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't be so hasty, Abarai-kun. Aizen Sosuke may be a traitor, but he's still a captain. Also, remember that you've already fallen victim to his **Kyoka Suigetsu **(Mirror Flower, Water Moon), and his subordinates are also captains."

Renji blinked. "His Kyoka Suigetsu? What do you mean by me having 'already fallen victim to it?' I thought that his Zanpakuto was-."

Hiruzen shook his head. "He's been lying to everyone this whole entire time. His Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu, has the ability of what you might call Complete Hypnosis."

"Complete… Hypnosis…?"

"That's right," said Hiruzen. "Although I'm not exactly one hundred percent sure on this, anyone who should happen to look upon the Zanpakuto in its Shikai state falls victim to its Complete Hypnosis, and there's absolutely no way to free themselves from it."

"But I should still at least try to-!"

"And remember that you gave Ichigo your word that you'd protect Rukia with your life," Hiruzen reminded him.

Renji looked down at the ground as he ran. "I-, I guess so…"

"Don't worry, Abari-kun," said Hiruzen with a slightly encouraging smile. "Naruto... He's been preparing for a showdown with Aizen for quite some time. We'll be all right."

Rukia stared blankly at the trees they passed by as Renji ran with her in his arms. _Naruto… Ichigo… Just how far are you two willing to go in order to save a friend…? I feel as if you two were meant to meet each other; I felt as if it was fate, but… I also feel as if you two are too similar for your own goods…_

"Wait, what?" Renji suddenly looked back at Hiruzen. "You mean that there's more than one subordinate?"

Haku nodded. "Yes," he said. "One is Gin Ichimaru, and the other one is…"

"Stop!" said Haku as he skidded to a halt. Renji looked at him, confused. "What's going on, Haku?"

"It's him," whispered Haku as he stared ahead at a figure approaching them.

"Who?" asked Renji as he stared at the figure. He could barely make out the long purple hair tied into braids and the clear orange goggles. "Wait a second… Is that…?"

"...Kaname Tosen."

"I must admit that I'm impressed," said Tosen as he stopped ten feet in front of the four Shinigami's. "You… _Shinobigami's_ are quite impressive. I suppose that living in the ninja world has its benefits after all. Let me ask you this one thing- how was it that only you people were able to anticipate our every move when the others could not?"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as he glared at Tosen. "You'll find out when you stand trial. We're here to take you in, Kaname Tosen."

"How foolish." Tosen concentrated on their reiatsu's and measured the distance between the formed shinobi's and the two Shinigami's. He suddenly flash stepped in between Haku and Hiruzen, raising his hand slightly. "**Sentan Hakuja **(Thousand-Coil White Snake."

A long white piece of cloth emerged from Tosen's sleeve and wrapped itself around himself and the two that he was after; that is, until…

"What?!"

Tosen's head snapped to the right as he realized that he was about to use the Kido on not just Renji and Rukia, but Haku and Hiruzen as well. _So they were somehow able to distort my perception of distance and time…_

Haku and Hiruzen used Tosen's surprised reaction to swiftly grab his arms, restraining him. "You won't get away from us so easily," said Haku determinedly as the pieces of cloth began to wrap even tighter around them.

A bright flash of white light enveloped the area, and it disappeared to reveal the five Shinigami's… gone.

* * *

[Central 46 Compound, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Aizen and Gin were barely able to dodge the torrent of water that was generated from Naruto's Zanpakuto. "My my, how dangerous," said Gin as he flipped over on his hands, pushing himself off of the ground in order to avoid a stream of lighting that threatened to strike him.

Aizen drew his Zanpakuto and met Naruto's charge head on, their Zanpakuto's clashing with each other. "Uzumaki-kun, you've grown," commented Aizen as he swung his katana at Naruto's head.

Naruto ducked as Aizen's Zanpakuto whizzed over his head, thrusting his own forward in an attempt to pierce Aizen's heart.

Aizen easily sidestepped it, slapping Naruto's Zanpakuto away with the flat of his blade. "But is it enough?"

Naruto placed one knee on the ground and concentrated, his fist gently pressing against the smooth surface of the floor. He jumped into the air and performed a makeshift cartwheel in mid-air before Aizen could react. "Not quite!" he grunted as he slammed his fist into Aizen's face.

Despite being cloaked in Kurama's Shroud, Aizen easily shook off the punch, quickly flickering to Naruto's side and slashing at his side. Naruto flash stepped a couple of feet away from him and glanced at Shisui who was simply standing there, looking at Aizen with a peculiar look on his face. _I wonder what he's up to…_

Minato quickly flickered to Aizen's side and stabbed at him with his kunai, but Aizen quickly saw this coming and met the kunai with his own blade. Minato grinned as he narrowed his eyes; Aizen's eyes widened in shock as Minato flash stepped behind him.

Aizen looked down and saw a large gash on his left lower torso and blinked. "Impressive…"

He narrowed his eyes as he glanced back at Minato. _How is this possible…? I activated my Kyoka Suigetsu quite a while ago; he should have been trapped in my Complete Hypnosis, and yet…_

He glanced over at Naruto and the others as he tried to figure out what had just happened. _I know for a fact that Uzumaki Naruto is able to counter my Kyoka Suigetsu with his Kyuubi's assistance. I am also well aware that the other __**shinobigami's**__ know of my Zanpakuto's Complete Hypnosis, but are unable to counter it, and that Shisui, Fugaku, and Mikoto Uchiha can use their Sharingans to cancel out my Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities… And I've prepared accordingly... So what could be…?_

Aizen's eyes strayed over to where Shisui was at. _Is-?_

Aizen ducked in order to avoid Minato's fast attack, his kunai slicing the tip of Aizen's hair as it passed overhead.

"You shouldn't assume that you've seen our full powers, Aizen," said Minato as he spun his kunai's on the tip of his fingers. "None of us had ever needed to go all-out against an opponent; that's all."

Minato quickly threw both of his kunai's at Aizen as his eyes widened in shock, one after another. Aizen easily dodged these, but Minato surprised him by swiftly appearing behind him, grabbing the kunai's and flickering to Aizen's side.

Aizen crouched down and slammed his blade against Minato's kunai's. The strength of Aizen's blow forced Minato back a couple of inches, surprising him. _But that doesn't mean that Aizen isn't dangerous…_ thought Minato to himself as he braced himself for another blow. _He may be a cruel and a manipulative traitor, but he's still one of the most skilled opponents that I've ever faced…_

"But then," started Shisui as Naruto and Minato appeared next to him. "It looks like we'll need to go all-out in order to defeat you, Aizen."

"Do not consider yourself worthy of facing us, Aizen," said Minato as Gin walked over to Aizen's side. "Consider it an honor that we consider you dangerous enough to crush with all of our might."

Aizen narrowed his eyes as he stared at his vice-captain. "How arrogant," chuckled Aizen suddenly, surprising the three. "You three have yet to see what your opponent can do, and yet you already assume that you can defeat him?"

Minato grinned as he, Naruto, and Shisui all rolled up right sleeves, revealing a seal on each of their right forearms that were nearly identical to the ones that were placed on the captain and vice-captains who entered the human world. Aizen blinked, unwilling to show how surprised he was to the enemies. _It can't be…_

"What are those?"

Naruto sighed and gave him a grin. "Since he saw this battle coming and wanted to have a trump card when we eventually confronted you, my dad had my mom place these seals on myself and the rest of the Shinobigami's before entering the Shino Academy in order to hide our true strengths."

Gin slightly frowned at this. "What ya tryin' to say, Naruto-san?"

"What I'm _saying_ is that the total amount of our powers that were sealed off is around **half**," said Naruto; Aizen's eyes widened in shock as he said this.

_Impossible… Their reiatsu's, with the exception Uzumaki Naruto's which is obviously higher than a captain levels, could already be considered to be on a captain levels, and yet they're claiming to only be using half of their full power…?_ Gin chuckled quietly to himself as he realized what this meant. "Oh well; what can ya do, _Captain_. We best be gettin' outa here before this gets even more unpleasant," he said as a long piece of white cloth emerged from his sleeve. It quickly wrapped itself around the two traitors, and they disappeared in a blinding flash of white light; just before they disappeared, however, Aizen saw a long piece of white cloth emerging from Shisui's sleeve as well.

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Zabuza, Kushina, Fugaku, and Mikoto saw three flashes of white light appear around ten feet from each other, and the light dissipated to reveal Aizen, Gin, Tosen, Haku, Hiruzen, Renji, Rukia, Naruto, Minato, and Shisui standing there.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes as he saw Aizen. _So it's finally come to this…_ As her eyes drifted to Naruto and the others, her eyes widened as she saw their right sleeves rolled up.

Naruto, Minato, and Shisui flash stepped in between Aizen and Renji's group, bracing themselves in case Aizen's group tried to attack. "Hey, Naruto!" yelled Renji.

Naruto glanced back at Renji and quickly turned his gaze back to Aizen and the others. "Yeah, what's up?"

Renji scowled comically and slapped Naruto in the back of the head. "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Naruto scowled at him and waved his Zanpakuto wildly at him. "HEY! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M IN A BIT OF A CRITICAL SITUATION HERE?!"

"Where's Ichigo?" asked Renji, his face serious again. "Last time I checked he was with you, and now he isn't. Is he alright?"

"I left him with that Byakuya a while back," said Naruto as he glanced at the direction that Ichigo and Byakuya were in. "I'm sure that he's fine, Renji. Ichigo would never lose to someone like _him_."

Renji closed his eyes and sighed. "Let's hope."

Naruto turned back to Aizen and the others and took up his position. "Anyway, you and Rukia get out of here, alright?"

Renji narrowed his eyes. "Are you kidding me?! There's no way that I'm just gonna-!"

"HEY, TATTOO-BROWS!" Renji's eyes widened in shock as Naruto glared at him. "There's no way that I'll ever forgive you if Rukia falls into Aizen's hands. Take her and run right now. You have a promise to keep to Ichigo, remember?"

Renji bowed his head. "You better win, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, his eyes still fixed on Aizen. "Yeah, I know… Now get going already!"

Renji stared at Naruto and the others one last time before shooting up and speeding across the terrain. _You better make it out of this alive, Naruto!_

Tosen stirred as he felt Renji and Rukia's reiatsu growing further and further away. "Shall I go and chase them down, Aizen-sama?"

Aizen smiled. "No, Kaname. It's quite alright. We can track down those two in our own pace later, but taking care of these former shinobi's is our main priority as of now."

Naruto smirked when he heard this. "Well, good luck on that, Aizen," he said in a mocking tone. Naruto and the other Shinobigami's placed their left hands on their respective seals, and as their power limiters began to glow, Naruto and the other former shinobi's looked up at Aizen and his two subordinates, their eyes glowing as an overwhelming amount of reiatsu began to flow from within them.

"KAI!"

Next Time - The Forestalled Ambition, Part 3


	8. 7: The Forestalled Ambition Part 3

**Chapter 7: The Forestalled Ambition Part 3**

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Ichigo slammed the point of sword into the ground and clenched his teeth. Byakuya, who was just a feet few away from him, stumbled forward as he tried not to black out. He looked at his bloodied hand and clenched it into a tight fist. "So… you wanted to know why I was ok with killing Rukia."

Ichigo turned around a faced him as he heard this. "Those who have sinned must be judged," continued Byakuya. "Once the sentence is decided it's final since it is the law."

"So because it's the law, you'd even kill your own sister?" asked Ichigo.

"Affection for relatives… how ridiculous."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What?"

"Against the wall, any emotion is meaningless. I never had any of those emotions to begin with. The Kuchiki Clan is one of the Great Four Noble Houses, and we must be an example for all Shinigami's. If we do not obey the law, then who will?"

Ichigo spat out a mouthful of blood. "Sorry, but I don't understand. If I were you, I would've still gone against the law!"

Byakuya looked shocked. _I see… So his enemy all this time was in fact Soul Society, not me…_

"Ichigo Kurosaki," said Byakuya out loud. "My sword has been broken by your free-spiritedness. This duel is y-."

Byakuya stopped as he felt a large group of Shinigami's approaching. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock as he saw Naruto, Minato, Shisui, Zabuza, Haku, Hiruzen, Kushina, Fugaku, Mikoto, Renji, Rukia, Aizen, Gin, and Tosen appear around a hundred feet from where he and Byakuya was. Ichigo scowled as he fell down on the ground. "N-Naruto? And Renji and Rukia as well? Just what the hell is he doing?! I told that bastard to protect Rukia and he just-!"

"It seems that they've arrived,"" said Byakuya softly.

"Hey, Byakuya. Are Naruto and those other guys going up against Aizen and his subordinates?" asked Ichigo, glancing at him for a split second before turning his gaze back to Naruto and the others.

"You are correct," answered Byakuya in his usual cool manner- despite the situation, Ichigo couldn't help but be annoyed by that as he glared comically at Byakuya.

Yamamoto had already been informed of Aizen's treachery by Toshiro and had asked Kyoraku to inform everyone in Seireitei by using **Tenteikūra **(Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air) just a few moments before their fight had ended.

Byakuya glanced at Ichigo as he saw him struggle to get up. "Where do you think you're going, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo looked up at him as he got to his feet. "I'm going to help Naruto kick that traitor's ass of course!" he answered as he frowned at Byakuya.

"There is no need for that," said Byakuya, surprising Ichigo. "Remember why you came here in the first place, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo looked down as Byakuya said this. "Well yeah, but…"

"Uzumaki Naruto is more than capable of handling Aizen," stated Byakuya despite himself. "He is one of the strongest members of the Gotei 13, and he and the other former shinobi are more than capable of defeating the traitor. If you doubt my words, then stay and see what I mean."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"KAI!"

Tosen's eyes widened in shock as he felt an enormous burst of reiatsu coming from the shinobigami's. _W-What is this…?! The former shinobi's reiatsu's have… doubled?! How is this even possible…? At this rate…_

Tosen turned to look at Aizen. "Aizen-sama, what-?"

Tosen's head snapped around as he felt Kushina extended her hand out towards them. Ten pink bolts of energy materialized around Kushina and sped towards the three traitors. Aizen and his two subordinates quickly dodged the attack by using flash step, barely avoiding the devastating explosion that followed. Aizen narrowed his eyes and grinned as he saw this. _To use __**Hadō 91: Senjū Kōten Taihō **_(Thousand-Hand Bright Heaven Culling-Spear)_ without calling out its name or reciting the incantation at full power… Kido had always been Kushina Uzumaki's strong point… But then again, for the most proficient Kido master to have ever been produced in all of Soul Society, a task such as this is trivial._

Gin looked down at his singed left arm and looked at Aizen. "It seems that 5th Division's sanseki-san's attack's gotten' even stronger. If they got any more surprises up their sleeves, I'm afraid that we're gonna have ta retreat, _Captain_ _Aizen_."

Aizen glanced at his subordinate. "It seems like it."

Aizen suddenly blinked and smiled unexpectedly. "Well, if it isn't 11nd Division's 4th Seat Zabuza, 2nd Division's Lieutenat Yuki, and 8th Division's Lieutenant Sarutobi. How good of you to come and finally join us."

Zabuza stared at Gin as he slowly drew his Zanpakuto. "You're not getting away this time, Ichimaru. You're going to pay for pulling that prank on me last year."

"My my my," grinned Gin. "If it isn't 11th Division's 4th Seated Officer, Zabuza Momochi. So _scary_; even more so than your captain. You're strong enough to defeat your captain, but unlike _him_, you ain't afraid to use your full powers if necessary…"

"Heh… Your sarcastic flattery won't save you from me, Ichimaru! **Slaughter, Shikkō Hito** (Executioner)!" yelled Zabuza.

Zabuza's Zanpakuto began to glow and expand until it became what closely resembled an oversized butcher knife, but the only difference was that this one had a large hole toward the front of the blade. Shikkō Hito was pale gray, and it had a blood stain in the front of it. The large hole towards the front seemed to be surrounded by a condensed sphere of mist which seemed neither solid nor liquid.

Zabuza held the blade in front of him, the point extended towards Gin. "Get ready, Ichimaru."

"Oh, how scary," faked Gin, holding his hands up in mock defeat. "Your blade is fitting considering the fact that you've lived your whole entire life nicknamed as the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist.' Anyone who's laid eyes on it have been terrified cause of its unique powers… I better be careful."

Zabuza bowed his head, chuckling quietly to himself. "The only non-shinobi Shinigami that's been able to survive my Shikkō Hito in a fight was my captain, Zaraki Kenpachi, and that's only because I spared him out of my respect for him."

Gin chuckled at this. "Oh… one question," said Zabuza. Gin looked up at Zabuza. Zabuza flipped his sword over and showed the flat of his blade to Gin, and the sphere started to slowly leak out a thin wave of mist.

"Would you rather I leave enough of you to bury, or would you rather be cremated?"

* * *

"**Hadō 73: Sōren Sōkatsui **(Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!" Mikoto called out.

Tosen quickly dodged two bursts of reiatsu before they could hit him, quickly weaving to the left and right in order to avoid the anken's that Mikoto had quickly thrown at him right after. _Her anken's are coated with a deadly poison, huh? If I'm not careful, I'll be dead within minutes… It'll be a pain to avoid all of them though…_

Tosen raised his Zanpakuto and skillfully deflected a couple of the anken's, ducking as he dodged another. As he backed away from the anken's, his head snapped to the side as he felt Kushina's presence behind him. _Shit!_ said Tosen to himself as he quickly stabbed his katana into the sword. He swiftly retaliated by swinging his leg at her, but Kushina easily blocked the kick and sent a barrage of kicks and punches at Tosen.

The former captain grimaced as he felt Kushina's fist pass dangerously close to his head. _If I remember correctly, Uzumaki Kushina rarely used her Zanpakuto during battle, mainly relying on her Kido and Hakuda skills instead…_

He swiftly slapped aside a punch and kicked at Kushina's stomach. "Ah!" cried Kushina as she went stumbling back a couple of feet. "Heh… Just kidding!"

Tosen's eyes widened in shock as Kushina appeared behind him. He quickly ducked as her Zanpakuto swung over his head. _But then again… not as rarely as Uchiha Shisui…_

Kushina sheathed her Zanpakuto and smiled. Tosen's head snapped to the right as he realized that Kushina had been distracting him so that he wouldn't notice Fugaku slowly sneaking up on him. Tosen grimaced as he grabbed his right arm, suddenly realizing that Fugaku had swiftly slashed him in multiple places. _Dammit… My right arm is useless…_

Tosen's hand automatically dropped his Zanpakuto, and he quickly grabbed it with his left hand, sheathing it. _I see… Now I can't wield my Zanpakuto…_

Tosen bent his body backwards, dodging a horizontal slash from Fugaku. "Tell me, Fugaku," began Tosen as he sent Fugaku skidding back a couple of feet with a kick to the chest. "Why is it that you are fighting me when you have no fear emanating from your blade?"

"Che!" Fugaku quickly retaliated by speeding towards his captain and slashing his sword up at him, aiming to slice his captain's face from the chin up. "I've never cared for your ideals, _Tosen_."

Tosen's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"I admit that there was a time when I believed in something similar to what you believe in now," admitted Fugaku as he rested the blade on his katana on his shoulders. "But then…"

"But then what?" inquired Tosen.

"But then, those ideals, coupled with my clan's hatred, were the very things that caused the destruction of my clan!" stated Fugaku, surprising him. "It only caused pain and misery to my own two sons, the only two survivors of my clan…"

"Go on…" said Tosen, suddenly interested.

"And then in my time in Soul Society… I learned that fear in unnecessary in battle as it only brings lack of resolve, a cowardly sense of self-preservation and, ultimately, the deaths of the people that you wish to protect before your own inevitable demise."

"What did you say?!" Tosen clenched his teeth in anger as he tightened his left hand into a fist. "Without fear, there is no sense of justice!"

"The only thing that one needs in battle is to be at peace with oneself, the acceptance of their own mortality, and the determination to do what your own heart feels is right… and my heart is saying to stop Aizen and anyone who takes side with him… you, Tosen!"

Tosen grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto with his left hand and slowly drew it from its sheath. "You… Those who pervert the balance of justice must be eliminated no matter what… You have no fear, Fugaku? That is understandable… but you have reached your limit."

"You three will ultimately fail, _Tosen_," stated Fugaku as he pointed the point of his sword at Tosen's heart. "Would you like to know why? It's because… unlike you, the other shinobigami's and I aren't afraid to die if that's what it takes to stop you! If that's the price that we have to pay, then so be it! In order to save Soul Society and what _we_ believe, we're willing to give up our lives!"

Tosen's eyes widened at this. _Such strong resolve…_

"This is the end, TOSEN!" roared Fugaku as he charged at him.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Renji, who was still carrying Rukia in his arms, skid to a halt as he saw a group of figures approaching from a distance. "I-Is that…" Renji squinted as he tried to make out who they were.

"Renji-san! Rukia-san!"

"Oh, it's Orihime and the others!" exclaimed Rukia as she waved at the group.

Inoue, who was with Yachiru, Ishida, Chad, Ganju, and Makizo Aramaki stopped in front of Renji and Rukia, having decided to continue on to Sokyoku Hill after Zabuza had failed to return. "Are any of you hurt?" asked Rukia as she looked over Inoue.

Inoue shook her head. "No, we're all fi-."

Rukia's eyes widened in shock as she felt herself fall through the air. She quickly landed safely on the ground, but Renji collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. "Renji-san!" Inoue quickly knelt by him. "He's out cold… Oh no!"

Rukia sighed. "It's probably from his battle with Nii-sama and carrying me around all of this time. It's my fault."

Ganju grunted as he grabbed Renji and hoisted him on his shoulder. "There we go," said Ganju. "We're all ready to go!"

Chad suddenly grabbed a wobbly Rukia before she could complain and carried her in his arms. "C-chad!" Rukia looked embarrassed by the fact that she had to be carried all of the time.

"Okay!" Chad glanced at the others before nodding. "Let's move!"

"Wait!" Makizo cried out. "We should uh… probably head back now that we've got Rukia-san with us! Who's with me?!"

"LEEET'S GOOOOO!" he yelled as he turned around and started marching away.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Ganju grabbed Makizo by the back of his uniform and kicked him in the butt. "Don't you even think about it, chobihige-san!"

"Mmm!" agreed Yachiru. "That's right, Maki-Maki! We _can't_ go back now!"

Makizo pouted. "B-But…"

Ishida pointed to Sokyoku Hill. "If you haven't forgotten, Ichigo's still up there, and that Aizen guy might be too!"

Makizo's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"If what we heard about that Aizen guy is true, then Ichigo might be in serious trouble!" said Ishida as he clenched his teeth in anger. "How could you-?!"

Ishida stopped talking as he and the others felt an overwhelming amount of reiatsu coming from Sokyoku Hill. Chad, who looked shocked by this, started to tremble. "W-Whose reiatsu is that?" he asked no one in particular. "It's obviously not Ichigo's, but…"

As they group continued to stare at Sokyoku Hill, they unconsciously stepped backwards as they saw a massive storm cloud in the shape of a hurricane beginning to form. The storm cloud began to spread all throughout Seireitei, grabbing everyone's attention as they stared up at the sky.

"R-Rukia-san, what's going on?" asked Inoue, a frightened look on her face.

Rukia's eyes widened in shock as she began to realize what was going on. She blinked and turned to Inoue and the others, suddenly calm. "This can only mean one thing…" she said.

Inoue and the others looked confused. "What does it mean?" asked Ishida.

"It means that Naruto Uzumaki…"

Everyone's head, excluding Rukia's, snapped towards Sokyoku Hill as they heard a sound similar to a dragon's roar in the distance from inside of the storm clouds.

"… has achieved Bankai."

Next Time - The Forestalled Ambition, Conclusion


	9. 8: The Forestalled Ambition, Conclusion

**Chapter 8: The Forestalled Ambition, Conclusion**

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Minato tilted his head to the side, easily dodging a thrust attack from his former captain. He flipped over on his hands and kicked the flat of Aizen's blade with impressive force that forced Aizen back a few feet. Aizen slashed at his arms, and Minato quickly reacted by pushing himself off of the ground using his arms and flipping over so that he landed on his feet.

Aizen kept his cool as he studied the movements of his former vice-captain. _Impressive… The shinobigami have to upper hand as of now… If we keep on like this, then…_

Aizen's eyes locked onto Shisui's as he glanced at him and Naruto, and his eyes narrowed as he saw Shisui smile. "So, Aizen," began Shisui. "How does it feel to finally be on the verge of defeat?"

Aizen simply shook off the comment and responded to it with a question of his own. "Shisui Uchiha… It's quite obvious that you are not standing there just for show, so tell me this… What have you done to me?"

Shisui smirked slightly at this. "Aizen," he said slowly. "As my enemy, it would be almost suicidal for me to reveal the secrets behind my abilities… but…"

Aizen raised an eyebrow. "But?"

"I _will_ say that your Zanpakuto isn't the only one that can manipulate others…"

Now, Shisui's Zanpakuto, Karasu no Hansha, had three main abilities. The first one was **Karasu no Sutea** (The Crow's Stare), which is activated by Shisui himself, and everything within the blade and Shisui's sight falls into a illusion similar to Kyoka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis, but Shisui could also manipulate his opponent's perception of space and time. This ability could also be further enhanced with his Sharingan.

The second ability, **Shin no Hansha** (The True Reflection), activates on its own accords at the moment of the Shikai's release, and it protected Shisui's mind from all foreign entities and all forms of manipulation, including Kyoka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis.

The third ability, **Mure** (Flock), allows Shisui to extend his Shin no Hansha ability to others around him whenever he wanted to, but the downside to this ability was that he could not use his Zanpakuto to enhance the reach of his Karasu no Sutea while Mure was activated.

Aizen's eyes widened in shock. _So he's placed an illusion on __**me**__?! To have placed an illusion on me that's even more powerful than my own…_

Aizen clenched his teeth and unexpectedly rushed towards the wounded Byakuya that was lying on the ground, his sword raised for the kill. _Farewell, Byakuya Kuchiki!_

"What?!"

Aizen looked shock as his attack was suddenly blocked by Naruto, who was looking at him with a very angry look on his face. "Aizen you coward!" spat Naruto as he pushed Aizen back an inch, their blades scraping against each other. "You must have no shame if you're willing to attack an unarmed person who can barely stand!"

Byakuya stared at Naruto with a look on his face despite being shocked by Naruto's actions. "Lieutenant Uzumaki…"

Naruto glanced back at him. "What is it?"

"Why are you protecting me when you despise me so?" asked Byakuya calmly.

Naruto ducked and avoided Aizen's blade, countering the move by swinging his own sword at him. "It's just something that I learned from my sensei back in the Shinobi World." Naruto took a deep breath as he stared at Byakuya. "'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.' I may see you as someone who's worse than a scum, but you're still a comrade, and more importantly, you're Rukia's older brother… So as far as I'm concerned, I can't, and I won't let Aizen kill you even if I can't stand you."

Byakuya's looked shocked. _Naruto Uzumaki… He's the same as Ichigo Kurosaki… Our confrontations over the past several days were truly an attempt to save Rukia's life, and he was only following his own heart from the start…_

Byakuya snapped out of his thoughts as Naruto pushed Aizen back several yards with brute force.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned around to see his dad and Shisui appear beside him. "Dad… Shisui-sensei… get everyone else to stand back," said Naruto quietly, his head bowed. "I'm going to finish this battle once and for all…"

Ichigo looked angry at this. "What?! Naruto, I know that Byakuya and I might be in a bad state right now, but we can still help you guys fight Aizen!"

"I know that," stated Naruto as he glanced over at him. "But I'm not worried about Aizen hurting you two…"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Naruto looked up at Aizen with a serious look on his face. "I'm afraid that I don't have enough control over what I'm about to do now, so you guys might get caught in the crossfire."

"What do you mean by that, Naruto Uzumaki?" asked Byakuya calmly.

Minato quickly caught on to what his son was saying and looked hard at him. "Naruto…" he said quietly. "Have you really achieved Bankai?"

Naruto nodded in response. "I'm sorry for disobeying your orders as you told me not to obtain it yet, but I-."

"It's alright," replied Minato. "You don't have to say anything. I already knew that you would go ahead and do it without my permission, but I'm just glad that you waited as long as you did before going on with your Bankai training. Just be careful, son."

Minato quickly grabbed Ichigo by his shihakusho and disappeared; Shisui and Byakuya quickly followed suit.

Naruto turned to Aizen and deactivated Kurama's Shroud, causing Aizen to look surprised. "Why did you do that?" asked Aizen curiously.

"I'll activate it again after I activate my newest trump card," he replied. "Don't worry about it."

Aizen's eyes widened as he realized what Naruto meant and jumped forward to stop him, but it was too late. Naruto released a monstrous level of reiatsu that surprised Aizen and overwhelmed him, and he stared at Aizen with a determined look in his eyes. "It's time to end this battle, Aizen!" roared Naruto.

He pointed his blade into the air, the tip of the katana gleaming against the sun. "BAN-KAI!"

Minato and the others, including Aizen, looked up at the sky as they saw the sky beginning to darken. Giant storm clouds started to form over Naruto's head, and the storm clouds slowly began to spread throughout Seireitei, causing everyone to look up at the sky, wondering what was going on.

A loud roar echoed above the cloud before a massive column of water, wind, and lightning fell from the storm above. Everyone looked on in amazement as the massive column of elements channeled itself through Naruto's Zanpakuto, eventually expanding to encase him until he could not be seen from the outside.

After a few seconds the column created by Naruto's Bankai dissipated while the giant storm clouds overhead organizing themselves to form a massive maelstrom.

"**Kamikaze** **no** **Me** (Eye of the Divine Wind)!" Naruto yelled out as he emerged from the dispersed column, revealing himself to Aizen.

Naruto was cloaked in armor similar to the one that the spirit of Kamikaze wore, made purely of lightning along with a shortened chokuto that was connected to the armor with an extendable rope made of pure lightning. On the back of the armor was the Uzumaki Clan Crest made out of black lightning. Naruto stared hard at Aizen, his gaze even more serious than before. "I hope that you're ready, Aizen… because you're about to die on this hill."

"Aizen-sama!"

Aizen glanced to the left and right as Gin and Tosen appeared next to him. Gin observed Naruto's new form, his seemingly-permanent grin growing even wider. "My my, how scary," he said jokingly. "And I thought that you were scary enough without your Bankai."

Naruto smirked at this. "I've had just about enough of your sarcasm, you sack of shit," he said. "I'm really going to enjoy putting some _real_ fear into you."

Gin opened his to question this, but he stopped as he saw Naruto beginning to channel his reiatsu through his blade. Naruto pointed the tip of the blade at Aizen and his two subordinates. "**Idai Genso Ikari** (Great Elemental Fury)!"

Aizen and his two subordinate's eyes widened in surprise as a wide beam of what seemed like water, wind, and lightning shot out of the tip of Naruto's Zanpakuto. _So fast!_ thought Tosen as he readied himself.

BOOM! Aizen and the two others were barely able to dodge the attack as it completely devastated a good portion of the area. Even though they were able to dodge the attack, they were blown back several meters back due to the intense shockwave that was generated by the attack.

Aizen narrowed his eyes as he went flying through the air. _Quite an attack… Uzumaki's Zanpakuto had always been able to manipulate wind, lightning, and water, but the ability to manipulate all three elements at once is a new one… If he has anymore tricks up his sleeves, then I will be forced to retreat without the Hogyoku…_

Naruto reactivated Kurama's Shroud right after he sent Aizen and the others flying, grabbing his tethered blade and throwing it at Aizen repeatedly. Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw this. _This is just like what my Inner Hollow did when he fought me!_

Naruto silently activated his ability "**Hyoka**" (Marks) while he quickly threw his chokuto at Aizen and his subordinates rapidly. This ability allowed him to imprint a kanji for Kaze (Wind), Raimei (Thunder), and/or Mizu (Water) on whoever/whatever he hit with the blade. He could imprint up to three marks for each kanji at a time.

By the time Aizen and the others had regained their footing, Naruto had managed to mark each of them twice. Naruto stopped throwing the blade and looked up at the sky, surprising Aizen and the others.

"Why stop attacking us, Naruto-kun?" asked Aizen curiously.

Naruto sighed and turned his gaze to Aizen. "You should be more patient, Aizen. You're just about to get your answer…"

Naruto looked back up at the sky and raised his blade, pointing it at the sky. A wide beam of water, wind, and lightning shot out from the tip of the blade, speeding towards the maelstrom that lied above Naruto.

"**Arashi no Seirei** (Spirits of the Storm)!"

The ground seemed to tremble as the sound of multiple dragons' roaring shook the very air itself. Ichigo, who was watching the entire fight alone with Byakuya and the other shinobigamis, was utterly amazed and bewildered by what was happening right in front of him. "Just what's going on here?" he whispered.

At that point, Renji, Rukia, the rest of Ichigo's friends, as well as Yachiru, Makizo, and Hanataro - who met up with the group on their way to Sokyoku Hill - came running into view from the distant, skidding to a halt when they reached Ichigo and the others.

Minato narrowed his eyes upon seeing the group- especially Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Ganju, and Hanataro. _So those are the other intruders; to that four humans and one Rukongai resident were willing and able to go this far just to save a friend and were even able to convince Hanataro to help them… _Minato then smiled at the idea. _I can see why Naruto took an interest in them; it sounds like something my son would've done himself,_ he thought as he turned his attention back to the fight.

Ichigo looked surprised when he saw them. "W-What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

Ishida looked annoyed by this question. "What are we doing here? We're here to get you out of here obviously, Kurosaki."

"I never asked for you to," replied Ichigo with a comical look on his face.

Ishida scowled as he stepped forward. "What?! You-!"

"I _said_ that I didn't-!"

Ishida suddenly turned around as he noticed Aizen and the others fighting a blonde-haired figure. "Hey, Kurosaki… Are those three… who I think they are?"

Ichigo nodded, suddenly serious. "Yeah… Ishida… If you're thinking that they're the ones responsible for what happened to Rukia, then they are."

Inoue, who was standing next to Ishida and Chad, blinked as she spotted the blonde Shinigami. "Hey, who is that person that's fighting those three?" she asked, looking over at Renji.

"That's Naruto Uzumaki," said Renji weakly.

Orihime, Chad, and Ishida looked shocked. Chad looked down at Rukia. "Kuchiki-san… Who exactly is this Naruto anyways?"

Rukia sighed as she looked at her vice-captain. "Thirteenth Division Lieutenant, Naruto… He's my vice-captain, as well as one of the strongest members of the Gotei 13. He's also a close friend of mine, and he's also a former shinobi."

Ishida looked confused. "A shinobi? What does that-?"

He was suddenly interrupted by a terrified Hanataro pointing at the giant maelstrom above. "T-The maelstrom is g-getting even bigger!" he squeaked.

Everyone looked up at the direction that Hanataro was looking in and saw that the storm was growing. It had now already grown over five times in size in the past couple of seconds, and it now reached as far as the 4th Districts in all of the four regions of the Rukongai area.

"Oy, look up there!" yelled Ganju suddenly. "There's something coming out of the sky!"

The group then turned their gazes at the sky directly above Naruto just as three large openings in the storm clouds formed above him. At that moment, the areas that had been engulfed by the maelstrom were suddenly beset and drenched by heavy rain and wind.

Naruto glanced up at the sky and then turned his gaze to Aizen and his subordinates. "Arashi no Seirei is my Bankai's most powerful ability; however, it also uses up so much of my reiryoku that if I don't deactivate it in time my Bankai will forcibly deactivate itself, after which point I won't be able to use it until that lost reiryoku is restored after five days…" Naruto explained.

* * *

OST:

"Fade to Black." (From Bleach) (Link: www. youtube .com watch?v=Wsbv7cjzLks (Remember to include the backspaces and slashes).

* * *

"… It's a big gamble for me to use this attack…"

Naruto stopped just in time as the sound of the roaring dragons returned; this time, however, the roars continued to grow louder and louder until the source of the roars finally emerged from the three openings in the storm clouds in the form of three massive dragons that all had glowing red-siltted pupils. One was composed of water, while the other two were composed of wind and lightning, respectively.

Everyone on the hill stared at the magnificent beasts in shock; Ishida's eyes widened as he saw them. "J-Just what the h-hell are those t-things?" he said quietly to no one in particular.

Aizen looked surprised and stared at them with wide eyes. "This is…"

"As I was saying," said Naruto, catching Aizen's attention. "Despite the dangers of using the Arashi no Seirei, its sheer power makes it worth taking the risk, as you're about to see.

The lightning from Naruto's blade and tether suddenly dissipated, and the lightning from the two objects reappeared around Naruto's hands, which he used to create the dragon seal; his hands now looked like they were encased in two lightning gauntlets. "**Howl, Kaze no Seirei **(Wind Spirit)!"

Aizen and the other two's eyes widened in shock as the wind dragon suddenly flew at them like a bullet, the three barely being able to dodge it. Unfortunately for Aizen and his cohorts though, Aizen was marked with the Kaze Hyoka, so the dragon simply swerved and sped towards them once more.

"Not so fast!" cried Naruto as he saw them dodge. "**Crash, Mizu no Seirei** (Water Spirit)!"

The water dragon, to the trio's surprise, joined in the assault and sped towards the three. They were barely able to dodge both of the dragons as they crashed into the ground next to them. It was much more difficult to dodge, however, as Gin and Tosen were both marked with the Mizu Hyoka that were now glowing as well.

The three were now trapped between the two dragons, and as the beasts charged at them, Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You guys won't be escaping again! **Roar, Raimei no Seirei** (Thunder Spirit)!"

As he said this, the dragon made out of lightning attacked Aizen and the others from above. Between the three of them, they managed to hit the three with a pincer attack, and as the result of the attack, the collision of the three dragons created a massive shockwave that destroyed part of the Sokyoku Hill that the broken scaffold was on, causing it to collapse and fall to the ground below.

As the blast subsided, Naruto deactivated Arashi no Seirei and reverted back to his Shikai, causing the sword to reappear on his right hand. The storm slowly subsided, causing the maelstrom to disappear.

Naruto grimaced slightly as he gripped his sword tightly with his hand. _If I had taken another minute to finish this battle, then I would have lost my Bankai for five days…_

Naruto turned his attention to Aizen and the others, who had been critically injured as a result of the attack. It was quite obvious that they were no longer able to fight as a result.

Naruto pointed his sword at Aizen, who had been so badly injured that Gin had to prop him up on his shoulder. "The fight's over, Aizen. You've lost."

At that moment, Ichigo, his friends, as well as the other shinobigamis and Shinigamis, suddenly appeared and rushed over to where Naruto and the others were.

* * *

End OST

* * *

Aizen, to Naruto's surprise, chuckled lightly despite his grievous injuries. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he got into his fighting stance. "You might have won the battle, but this war is far from over."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, Aizen and his cohorts were enveloped in a large square beam. Naruto, realizing that they were about to escape, got ready to attack them.

"Do not attack!" said a voice behind him.

Naruto stopped and looked behind him to see the captain-commander there. He also saw that Ukitake, along with Sui-Feng, Unohana, Shunsui, Hitsugaya, Rangiku, and Yoruichi had arrived with the rest of the group.

"Captain-commander!" exclaimed Naruto.

"This is called **Negación **(Counter Membrane)," explained the captain-commander. "It's something that Menos use to rescue some of their own- Naruto turned to look at the Gillians-, and anyone who's fought against a Menos knows that once the light descended on Aizen, we could no longer touch him."

Naruto sighed at this. The captain-commander looked at Aizen, then Naruto. "You still fought well, Uzumaki-fukutaichou. Thanks to you and the other former shinobi's valiant efforts, you all have managed to stop Aizen from achieving his goals and an injustice that would have put Soul Society in grave danger. This-."

The captain-commander looked up at Aizen as he heard a light chuckle coming from him. "How arrogant of you to assume that, Genryusai Yamamoto," said Aizen. "Uzumaki-kun and the others shinobi have only managed to slow down my plans, and I will eventually succeed in my plans."

To everyone's surprise- except for the other shinobigami of course- Naruto flashed Aizen a goofy grin. "I don't think so, Aizen," said Naruto surprisingly as he reached into his shihakusho and pulled something out of it. "I don't think that you'll get very far without _this_."

"W-What…?" whispered Aizen; he stared at the item in Naruto's hand in disbelief, unable to comprehend what it was at first.

The item was a small, translucent and lavender object that closely resembled a marble. Aizen, who couldn't believe this, clenched his hands into a fist. "Is that… the Hogyoku?" he asked aloud, his voice calm despite the situation.

"Oh, so _that's_ the name of this thing?" asked Naruto in a mocking voice.

"There's no way that you could've known about the Hogyoku," hissed Aizen as he glared at Naruto. "Especially after your actions from our initial confrontation at the Central 46 Compound, there's no way…"

Naruto chuckled lightly, and then to Aizen and the other Shinigami's surprise, burst into a full-blown laughter. "I was only _pretending_ to act like I didn't know what you were after," laughed Naruto. "I was only angry over you calling Rukia a pawn!"

Naruto ceased laughing as he grinned at Aizen. "Did you really think that the other shinobi and I didn't know what you were after, _Aizen-chan_? You see- when Rukia first came back from the World of the Living, I learned about the Hogyoku being sealed within her because Kurama had sensed a second set of emotions within her. Get it?"

Aizen narrowed his eyes as he heard this. _Who thought that it was a good idea to give that blasted Kyuubi the ability to sense negative emotions?_

"Anyway…" said Naruto. "After that, I made a deal with Mayuri-taichou to get the Hogyoku out of Rukia while she had been asleep in the cell at the 6th Division's Barracks under my watch in exchange for a certain… _favor_- Naruto shuddered at this-… But then, I _did_ lie to the captain about the true nature of the item, and I've kept the Hogyoku on me since that time."

Aizen, realizing that he had been outsmarted by Naruto of all people, clenched his teeth in rage as his eyes grew wide, blazing with anger. "You little bastard!" he said as he arrived at the top of the Negación. "I will make you pay for this insult in time, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"You can try to attack Soul Society as much as you want to, but if you could be outsmart by an idiot like me, then I'm pretty sure that we have nothing to worry about," replied Naruto smugly.

Aizen smiled unexpectedly at this. "We shall see about that…"

A second later, he vanished into the Garuganta along with Gin, Tosen, and the other Menos.

After this, Naruto walked over to the captain-commander and handed him the Hogyoku. "I think that it would be best if I gave this to you, Head Captain," said Naruto as Yamamoto took the object from his hand.

"I will make sure that the Hogyoku is hid well so that Aizen will never be able to find it," stated the captain-commander. "Lieutenant Uzumaki, you fought well, and I thank you."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond with a, "It was no big deal," but instead, he collapsed on the ground much to everyone's shock.

Minato and Kushina immediately rushed over to their son's side, and Kushina laid her hands over Naruto and started to heal him. "Is he ok, Kushina?" asked Minato with a worried look on his face.

Kushina simply turned to Minato and gave him a smile. "Yes," she replied, unable to hide the relief from her voice.

Orihime, who was watching this, turned to Rukia. "Say, Kuchiki-san…"

Rukia turned to Orihime. "What is it, Inoue?"

"Who are those two people that are with Naruto-kun?" she asked.

Rukia turned her gaze to the three and smiled. "They're Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, the vice-captain and the 3rd Seat of the 5th Division, and they're also Naruto's parents."

Inoue and the other Ryokas looked surprised by this.

Naruto, who had managed to stayed awake, blinked and looked around the devastated area. "Hey, Ichigo… I think that I might have overdone it a bit…"

Ichigo looked at the area where the Sokyoku stand used to be, and he turned to Naruto, a comical scowl on his face.

"YOU THINK?!"

Next Time - Trouble in the Shinobi World


	10. 9: Trouble in the Shinobi World

**Chapter 9: Trouble in the Shinobi World**

Disclaimer: Still applies

_After Aizen's Escape..._

After the final showdown between Naruto, Aizen, and his two subordinates, Naruto was sent to the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho for a couple days in order to recuperate from overusing his Bankai and Kurama's Shroud. Those two things had placed great strain on his body, which is why he had suddenly collapsed after his battle with Aizen, but thanks to the immense stamina that he inherited from his Uzumaki Clan lineage, he had recovered at a shocking speed (Naruto had decided to only use both abilities at the same time as a last resort though).

After he had fully recovered, Naruto spent the next two days running the 13th Division due to Captain Ukitake being temporarily beset by another bout of illness, but he had also managed to hang out with Ichigo and his friends, though Ichigo was still recovering form his battle with Byakuya and was also hanging around the 11th Division barracks, who had hung out in Seireitei for a couple of days. He had also managed to make some amends with Byakuya who was still recovering from his fight with Ichigo, but there were still some things that they had to work on.

Naruto had also learned, unfortunately, that there had been fatalities as a result of Aizen's actions as the entirety of Central 46 had been murdered. This meant that the full authority over Soul Society was now in the hands of Genryusai Yamamoto.

* * *

[13th Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Five days after Aizen's betrayal…_

Naruto and his captain Ukitake walked up to the 13th Division Barracks from the 1st Division Barracks and entered inside of it. Naruto looked surprised as he saw Rukia standing near the doorway along with Ichigo and the rest of the group who were checking up on her as she was still recovering form her entire ordear.

Unfortunately for everyone's sanity Kiyone and Sentaro were there as well.

Kiyone and Sentaro shot up at the sight of Naruto and Ukitake and rushed over to them. "Captain UKITAKE! LIEUTENANT UZUMAKI!" exclaimed Kiyone as she pushed her fellow 3rd Seat aside.

"HEY, KIYONE!" roared Sentaro as he planted his face against hers. "I SAW THE CAPTAIN FIRST!"

"What?!" Kiyone slapped his across the face and jumped on him, pummeling him with her fists. "You wanna say that to my face again, baka?!"

Uryu sighed and looked at Naruto. "Do those two ever stop arguing with each other?"

Naruto blinked as he watched the two fight. "Nope."

Rukia looked up from watching the two wrestle with each other and looked at Naruto and Ukitake. "Where have you and Naruto been, Captain Ukitake?" she asked as she glanced outside. _The sun's already setting…_

"Oh, that," said Ukitake. "Since the 3rd, 5th, 9th Divisions had been left without a captain due to Aizen, Gin, and Tosen having defected, the captain-commander had been busy finding their replacements."

"I see…" Rukia blinked, not understanding where her captain was going with this.

Ukitake looked up at the ceiling as he thought back to the meeting that he and Naruto had just come back from. "Minato and Fugaku, the lieutenants of the 5th and 9th Divisions, respectively, had both achieved Bankai a long time ago, and with the leadership experience they had from when they were still alive, they were both promoted to the captain positions of their respective divisions through personal recommendations. Also…"

Rukia tilted her head to the side. "Yes?"

"… I had recommended Naruto for the Captain Proficiency Test, which is why we were at the 1st Division Barracks for so long."

Ichigo realized what was going on and looked at Naruto. "Oh, so you've actually been promoted to captain, Naruto?"

Naruto looked down sheepishly. "Well, it's going to be made official the following morning, but…"

Ichigo blinked. "Watsup?"

"Well, I'd much rather stay in the 13th Division and have Shisui-sensei become to captain, but Shisui-sensei had refused to take the test even though he had met the requirements because he fells that he's not the type to be a leader, but even so, I-."

"Naruto!

Naruto stopped talking and turned around to see Rukia walking up to him. His eyes widened in surprise as she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a light hug. Naruto blushed slightly at this; despite having an easier time making friends since coming to the Soul Society he was still a little uncomfortable when girls gave him that type of close contact since his most vivid memory of such contact when he was still alive was whenever Sakura would punch him in the face.

"I'm happy for you," said Rukia unexpectedly. "You deserve the promotion, Naruto, and you should accept it proudly."

Naruto smiled at this. "Thank you, Rukia."

Kiyone, who had finished pummeling Sentaro, ran over to Naruto and bowed deeply. "Congratulations, _Captain_ Naruto," she said with a big grin on her face. "I'll miss you a lot, and I-."

"No, I'll miss you more, Captain Naruto!" yelled Sentaro as he came rushing up to him.

"Hey, I was talking to him first, you baka!" scolded Kiyone as she punched Sentaro in the face.

Naruto blinked as he watched the two fight once more. _I wonder if they even know that I'll still be able to visit the 13th Division…_

* * *

[Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Two Days Later..._

Ichigo and his friends, along with Naruto, Ukitake, Minato, Fugaku, and the other Shinobigami, arrived at Sokyoku Hill where a Senkaimon had been prepared for Ichigo and his friends,

Ukitake had already given Ichigo the Substitute Shinigami Badge. Naruto and his dad were now wearing a sleeveless captain's haori, while Fugaku was wearing a long-sleeved one that had its sleeves ripped off. Kushina and Shisui had been promoted to vice-captains and now wore vice-captain arm bands. A couple of the other captains were present as well to see Ichigo and his friends off.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other as they bid their farewells to each other. "Well, see ya," said Ichigo as he smiled at her.

"Yeah…" Rukia gave him a small smile. "See you later…"

Ichigo turned to look at Naruto, and Naruto walked up to him. "Take care of Rukia for me, Naruto," said Ichigo.

"Of course I will!" replied Naruto with a grin.

After they bumped fists, Ichigo turned around and entered the Senkaimon along with his friends. "Until we meet again, Naruto," said Ichigo; and with that, he disappeared.

After the Senkaimon closed, Naruto remained still as he stared at the gate. _Ichigo and I might have to see each other much sooner than expected…_

"Naruto!" called Rukia as she turned around to walk away.

"Yea, I'm coming!" answered Naruto, running after her.

* * *

[Karakura High School, Karakura Town]

_Six months later…_

Ichigo yawned as he dropped down on his seat, exhausted. Rukia, who was sitting next to him, blinked and slapped him across the head. "Hey!" scowled Ichigo as he glared at her. "What was that for?!"

"Pay attention, idiot," sniffed Rukia, who had resumed her duties as the guardian of Karakura Town a few weeks prior. "High School's important at your age, you know."

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he picked up his pencil for the test that was today. Ichigo's teacher walked in the classroom at that moment and slapped a ruler across the palm of her hand. "Ok everyone," she said. "Does everyone have a pencil ready? Yes? Ok, good."

She glanced around the room and nodded. "Beg-!"

"OY, ICHIGO!"

Ichigo, his teacher, and his classmates all turned around as they heard someone calling for him from outside the school. Ichigo blinked. "Huh?"

"HURRY UP AND COME OUT BEFORE I GO IN THERE AND START LOOKING FOR YOU, ICHIGO! YOU'VE GOT FIVE MINUTES!" yelled the voice.

Uryu narrowed his eyes. "I know that voice…"

Ochi Misato, Ichigo's teacher, turned to look at Ichigo, as did the rest of the people in the room. "Hey Kurosaki, do you know that-?"

Ichigo jumped out of his seat and sprinted outside the classroom before she could finish. "JUST A RELATIVE!" Ichigo yelled out as he ran outside of the room.

Ichigo's teacher blinked. "Your relative?"

* * *

Outside of the school, a blonde-haired figure stood under a tree with an orange t-shirt and black pants on. "_ICHIGO_!" yelled the figure as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "HEY ICHIGOOO!"

A voice behind the figure sighed before when spoke it was in a stoic and calm male voice. "Do you really think that this 'Ichigo' character will come out if you keep yelling for him?"

The blonde-haired figure stopped yelling and turned around to face the figure behind him. "Of course he will," he replied. "I know that Ichigo will come out... there's your proof right in front of you!"

The second figure turned around to see where the blonde was pointing at, and he blinked in surprise as he saw a tall orange-haired figure heading their way.

"THERE HE IS!" sang the blonde-haired figure as he saw him. "ICHIGOOO!"

Ichigo scowled at the figure as he charged at him, his head bowed. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND, NARUTO?!" he roared as he angrily charged at him.

Naruto easily sidestepped Ichigo's attack without even looking as stared at the school building with a bored look on his face. Ichigo crashed into the tree that Naruto had been hiding under and quickly jumped up with a red mark on his face.

"So is that how you greet the guy who helped you to control your Inner Hollow and taught you to control reiatsu enough so that you could place your Zanpakuto in a sealed state?" asked Naruto angrily yet comically.

Two months after Ichigo had returned home, Naruto had come to Karakura Town and, with the captain-commander's permission, trained Ichigo to control his Inner Hollow, which had nearly broken out several times before that point, and he had also taught Ichigo how to place his Zanpakuto in a sealed state, as the reiatsu from Ichigo's constant-released Shikai was causing the number of Hollows and the incidents related to them to steadily increase.

Ichigo remained angry despite this and shook his fist at Naruto. "IT IS WHEN THAT SAME GUY MAKES A HUGE RUCKUS IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS IN ORDER TO GET MY ATTENTION!"

Before the two teenagers could argue any further, the voice from earlier coughed, getting both of their attentions. "Naruto, please remember that we have come for something other than a fistfight."

At this point Rukia arrived at the scene. She seemed surprised by Naruto's appearance. "N-Naruto! What are you doing here?" _Wait!_ Rukia's eyes widened as she felt something near her. _There's someone on the other side of the tree…_

"You- come out of there now!" she ordered when she recognized the person's reiatsu.

The figure sighed and walked out from behind the tree, revealing himself to Ichigo and Rukia. The figure had black hair that he had tied into a low ponytail all the way down to his shoulder blades. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and grey pants. His most noticeable feature was the tear-troughs under each of his eyes, as well as his red eyes with three tomoes in each eye.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw the figure. _The Sharingan?! _He cleared his throat as he stared at the figure with narrowed eyes. "Are you… an Uchiha?" he asked slowly.

The figure nodded, confirming this. "My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki," said Ichigo. _This guy acts a lot like Byakuya…_ "I think that I remember that name…" Ichigo had learned from the other Uchihas well, as Naruto was unwilling to discuss the matter of Itachi and the things that he had done.

"Are you a Shinigami now as well?" asked Ichigo.

"Yes," replied Itachi.

"Itachi had died just a little over a year ago," explained Naruto. "I won't go into the details, but he had graduated from the Shino Academy just a week before Rukia had returned to Karakura Town, and he's now my vice-captain. Kira Izuru was demoted to the 3rd Seat. I tried to get him into the Gotei 13 without getting into the Academy first because of the approaching conflict with Aizen and his lackeys, but the other captains rejected this, and-."

"But why are you and this Itachi here in the first place?" asked Rukia, realizing that something serious was going on.

Naruto's expression suddenly turned solemn before Ichigo, who suddenly realized what was going on, looked at Naruto. "Is something happening in the Shinobi World, Naruto?"

Itachi answered this question. "Something is going to happen very soon, and we know for a fact that Aizen is getting involved in it."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Naruto, did you come to ask for my help by any chance…?"

Naruto nodded after a brief pause. "I need someone that I can trust, but I'll understand if you can't-."

Ichigo shook his head, interrupting him. "I'll do it."

Naruto gaped at him in surprise. "Huh…?"

"You're my friend," said Ichigo bluntly. "Also, after all the time you had taken to train me, it's the least that I could do."

"I see…"

"But I do have two conditions," said Ichigo. "First, I want to say bye to my friends as I'm sure that this journey's going to take a while, and secondly, you have to tell me what the problem is that you need my help with."

Naruto nodded even though he had been planning to explain the situation to Ichigo regardless of whether or not he asked for one. "Agreed, but the explanation will have to wait until we get to Seireitei as some details have to be provided with others."

Ichigo nodded, signaling that he understood. Itachi blinked and turned around to leave. "We will be waiting for you at Kisuke Urahara's shop," he said.

Naruto had met Urahara the first he had come to Karakura Town, while Itachi had met him shortly before he and Naruto had come to Ichigo's High School.

And with that, Naruto and Itachi headed off towards Urahara's Shop, leaving Ichigo and Rukia alone to ponder on the situation.

Next Time - Departure to the Shinobi World


	11. 10: Departure to the Shinobi World

**Chapter 10: Departure to the Shinobi World**

Disclaimer: Still applies

**A/N: I've added a change in this chapter with the design of Naruto's mask. I've also added a minor touch to Ichigo's sealed zanpakuto **

* * *

[Seireitei, Soul Society]

Ichigo looked around the area as he, Naruto, and Itachi arrived in Seireitei. Ichigo also had his Zangetsu in its new sealed state. It was now in the shape of his original oversized katana except that it had a silver tsuba and pommel with a black hilt. Attached to the pommel was a short, broken off black chain. The brown sheathe was also now attached to the red rosary-like strap around Ichigo's chest.

The trio entered the Captain-Commander's office a few minutes later, stepping into his office and beginning to explain the situation to Ichigo.

"Welcome Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain Uzumaki, Lieutenant Uchiha," said Yamamoto.

"What's up, gramps?" sniffed Ichigo.

"It appears that Aizen has been sighted in the Shinobi world and we have also been informed that he had been trying to create an alliance with a group known as the Akatsuki since he had left Soul Society with Ichimaru and Tosen," explained Yamamoto.

"Wait…" Ichigo scratched his head as he thought. "So why are these 'Akatsuki' guys so dangerous?"

"It seems that they are after a group of beasts known as 'Bijuus,' excluding _your_ Bijuu of course, Captain Uzumaki," said Yamamoto. "Since he died, he cannot be revived back into that world."

At this point, Itachi stepped in. "I was concerned about the danger that the group posed to Konoha, so I had joined the Akatsuki in order to keep an eye on them and to stall them for as long as I was able to. Shortly before my death, however, I was able to learn that the Akatsuki had planned to make their move the following year, and that time is now approaching fast."

"While the 2nd Division and the Onmitsukidō are the ones with sole jurisdiction over the Shinobi World, the possibility of Aizen getting involved and acquiring the other Bijuus as a result, we can no longer allow just a single division to handle the situation in hand," explained the Captain-Commander. "As a result of this situation, Captain Sui-Feng and you, Captain Uzumaki, will lead a five-man team to the Shinobi World to eliminate the Akatsuki before they can acquire the Bijuu. You should also note that Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Abarai have volunteered to join the mission."

Ichigo thought about this. "Sooo… Are we going to be, like, asking for help from Konoha as well?"

Soifon, who had been standing in the back of the room, stepped in for this question. "That's a negative," she answered. "While they can see us Shinigami, they still do not know of our existence, and unless Aizen directly targets the Shinobi World, it will stay this way. Since we have to briefly go to Konoha regardless of that matter, Uzumaki-taichou will be going there with his identity concealed."

"I see…" replied Ichigo.

"Are there any questions?" asked the Captain-Commander. He was met with silence.

"Very well then," he said. "All five members of the team are to make preparations for the journey. You shall all be departing for the Shinobi World in exactly five hours!"

Everyone nodded and headed for the door; each member headed for their respective division barracks, with Ichigo going with Naruto and Itachi to get a few things for the journey.

* * *

As Naruto and the others entered the 3rd Division Barracks, he stopped and turned to Itachi. "Itachi- you'll be taking charge of the 3rd Division while I'm gone, so don't go and screw this up, okay?"

Itachi blinked, his face just as blank as always. "You mean like the time you blew up the SRDI?"

"Hey!" raged Naruto as they reached his office. "SHUT IT!"

Naruto opened the door to his office, and once they stepped inside, Ichigo looked around the slightly spacious room, examining and taking in every detail of the room.

The room was about twenty-five by twenty-five feet, and aside from the shelves and cabinets overflowing with papers and documents, there was a desk in the opposite side of the room with a lamp and three picture frames.

The three pictures were what caught Ichigo's eyes. As he walked over to the desk what he saw surprised him. The picture on the left was a picture of Naruto and his parents, the one in the middle was a picture of Naruto, Ukitake, Kiyone, Sentaro, and Rukia, and the picture on the right was a picture of Naruto with Team Seven.

"Wow… Say, aren't you worried that you might blow your cover, Naruto?" asked Ichigo as Itachi leaned over him, looking at the pictures.

Naruto walked over to one of the cabinets and opened it up, rummaging through the stuff in the drawer. "Well, that's the reason why _these_ were made for me," he replied.

Naruto turned around to face Ichigo wearing a black hooded cloak over his uniform along with a mask. It was large enough to completely cover his body, and Ichigo noticed that it repressed all but a fifth of his reiatsu. The mask that he wore was a kitsune mask with narrow eyeholes. There were also three triangular burgundy colored stripes on each cheek and the small ears of the mask were colored dark red.

Ichigo noticed with mild surprise that Naruto's hair, which was blonde, was now jet-black. "So, does that mask do anything?"

"Yea, it does," Naruto confirmed. "This mask projects an illusionary Kido. Urahara-san made this for me around the time that I was training you." Having said this, he pulled a second cloak out of the cabinet and tossed it to Ichigo. "Here, put this on."

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked. "Why do _I_ have to wear one?"

"Don't worry," said Naruto, reassuring him. "The cloak is only to suppress your reiatsu. If we don't, then your reiatsu could draw unnecessary attention from the Konoha-nin, as they're always wary of outsiders."

"Alright, alright," grumbled Ichigo as he put on the cloak.

"Oh, stop grumbling," said Naruto in an annoyed tone. "Soifon, Toshiro, and Renji all have to wear one as well."

Naruto then turned to Itachi. "Ok, Itachi. Good luck with everything, and-."

"Let me give you one last word of warning," said Itachi, stopping Naruto. "I gave Sasuke my eyes before I died, so he now possesses the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. If you do go to Konoha be careful with him…"

Naruto nodded, a serious look appearing on his face. "I know…"

"Anyway," continued Naruto, glancing sideways at Ichigo. "Ichigo, it's time to leave."

"Got it," replied Ichigo, stretching out his arms and legs. "Let's go."

And with that, he and Naruto flash stepped away to the 2nd Division Barracks, leaving Itachi to himself.

* * *

[2nd Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Ichigo looked up with an impatient look on his face as he waited outside near the forested area near the 2nd Division Barracks along with Naruto and Soifon. "Geez," sighed Ichigo. "Where are those two?"

Soifon was wearing a black cloak similar to the ones that Naruto and Ichigo were wearing, but hers was a little bit smaller, and she was also wearing a mask. It was a white mask with two narrow slits for eyeholes that also had two blue vertical stripes as a design, each one going down past each slit. Unlike Naruto's, hers wasn't projecting an illusionary Kido.

"Sooo…" said Ichigo for like the tenth time that day. "Why is Soifon wearing a mask if it doesn't do anything?"

"Oh, that," said Naruto. "Well, due to various assassinations of certain high-leveled shinobis learning a bit too much about spiritual-related matters, Soifon has quite the reputation in the Shinobi World, which is why her identity needs to be concealed."

Ichigo seemed surprised by this. "Wow, really?"

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo and the others turned around to see Renji and Toshiro running towards them. "Hey, Renji!" yelled Ichigo, waving his hands at them.

Once the both of them arrived at the spot where Ichigo and the others were waiting, Ichigo saw that they were wearing the same black cloaks that everyone else was wearing.

"Well, that took long enough," said Ichigo, glaring comically at Renji.

Renji blinked, confused. "What?" He looked at Hitsugaya, then at Ichigo. "Wait, what do you mean, 'that took long enough?' We were the furthest away, dumbass!"

"Yea yea, whatever," said Ichigo, waving him off. "Of course dumbasses use stupid excuses, _dumbass_!"

"_Huh_?" Renji leaned over at Ichigo, his face pressed against Ichigo's. "You wanna say something, _substitute_?"

Ichigo's face grew red at this. "Oh yea?! Well, I may be a Substitute Shinigami, but I can still kick your ass!" he scowled.

"YOU WANNA TRY?!" yelled Renji.

Ichigo grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto from behind his back. "LET'S DO IT! I'LL KICK YOUR-!"

THUD! Ichigo and Renji fell on the ground as Naruto slammed both of their heads together, rubbing their heads as they glared at each other.

"Stop arguing, you idiots!" raged Naruto. "If you guys didn't notice, we're about to go on a freakin' mission here!"

Toshiro sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. _Those bakas…_ He then turned to Naruto, who was standing over the troublesome duo. "My apologies, Naruto-san," he apologized. "It seems that we kept you guys waiting for quite some time."

"Eh, it's nothing," said Naruto, waving his apology off.

"If you guys are done arguing, please look over here," said Soifon, catching their attention.

Once she got everyone's attention, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers, the sound echoing throughout the clearing.

Ichigo looked on in amazement as a large red Torii Gate materialized in front of the group, the double doors slowly creaking open. _W-Whoa…_

"This gate is the official portal to the Shinobi World," explained Soifon. "Since the Shinobi World is a completely world from the World of the Living, it's only natural that there's a different form of the usual Senkaimon, and anyone who's either a former shinobi or a member of the Onmitsukidō and the 2nd Division would have knowledge of how to use this gate."

"Now, be careful once we enter the Shinobi World," she added, turning to specifically look at Ichigo. "The Akatsuki members that we're supposedly hunting are extremely dangerous S-Rank nuke-nin, but we might need to fight against shinobis from the other shinobi villages that we're forbidden to kill under any circumstances."

After giving everyone the warning, Soifon turned to the Senkaimon, motioning for everyone to follow her. She and Naruto, the only ones among the group wearing masks, pulled up their hoods as they entered the Senkaimon Gate.

* * *

[Valley of the End, The Shinobi World]

_One minute later…_

Naruto and the others looked around their surrounding area as they arrived in the Shinobi World. The area around them was basically just large masses of rocks shaped into the form of makeshift mountains. In the middle of the two mountains was a large body of water, and in the very front of the valley was a waterfall with two figures carved from rock standing on either side of it.

The figure on the left was a figure with long and spiky hair with his bangs swept to the side and covering one eye. He wore a traditional samurai amour, and his right hand was clasped against the hilt of his sword.

The figure on the right had long straight hair, and he was wearing a headband around his forehead. He was also clad in some kind of samurai-like armor, and both figures had their left hands up with their index and middle finger up while their other fingers were curled into a fist.

"Hmmm…" Renji scratched his chin as he looked around the area. "So what exactly is this place, Naruto?"

"This is the Valley of the End," replied Naruto, closing his eyes and breathing in the fresh air. "A long time ago, there was a fierce battle between the two legendary shinobi Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Their fight was so fierce and devastating that their battle left a giant scar on the land- this place."

Ichigo, Renji, and Toshiro looked surprised. "W-Wow," stuttered Ichigo. "That sounds intense…"

Toshiro turned to look at Soifon. "Is this true, Captain Soifon?"

Soifon nodded in response. "It is. I actually witnessed the battle myself with my own two eyes… Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju… Their powers are absolutely frightening… Anyway, the Onmitsukidō built a hideout a few miles south of the valley so we'll rest there for the night."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he stared at Naruto, noticing the fact that he was staring intently at the center of the valley. Soifon, also noticing this, walked over to Naruto and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked, a surprising tone of genuine concern in her voice.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah…"

Ichigo blinked, a confused look on his face. "What did Soifon mean by that, Naruto?"

Naruto turned to look at Ichigo, a fierce light in his eyes. "This was where I fought my friend Sasuke before I died. He had just betrayed the village in order to join this guy named Orochimaru, an extremely powerful shinobi who wanted to take control of Sasuke's body for his Sharingan. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, so we ended up fighting it out. At the final moment of our fight, I used Kurama's chakra to create an enhanced version of my most powerful jutsu, Rasengan, while Sasuke used the power of the Curse Mark that Orochimaru had given him to create an enhanced version of _his _most powerful jutsu, Chidori. Our jutsus collided, and the result of it is what you see here," he said, pointing to the chunks of rocks missing from the two figure's legs.

"Sasuke ended up piercing me through the chest," continued Naruto. "As I fell into the water, I found out that I was paralyzed by the electricity from his attack, so I couldn't move my body. It was then that I realized that… I was going to die... (he sighs) I just hope that Sasuke and the others are okay…"

Naruto suddenly looked up at Ichigo and the rest of the group, shaking off his past memories of his final battle. "Anyways, we should go to the hideout and rest for a bit…"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah… Let's go."

The group then headed off towards the hideout, following Soifon and Naruto's lead as the latter flung through the trees...

Next Time - Showdown in Konoha


	12. 11: Showdown in Konoha

**Chapter 11 - Showdown in Konoha**

Opening Song: "Hotaru no Hikari" by Ikimono-gakari (Naruto Shippuden)

Ending Song: "My Pace" by SunSet Swish (Bleach)

Disclaimer: Still applies

A/N: I just want to let everybody know that updates will be less frequent after I'm done reposting TheUchihaLegacy's chapters (for obvious reasons).

* * *

[Konoha Gate, Konoha, The Shinobi World]

Naruto, Ichigo, and the others Shinigami looked up as they approached Konoha's main gate. They all had their black cloaks on, but Naruto and Soifon were the only ones who had their hoods up.

Ichigo glanced at his pass, and then at Naruto and Soifon, who had their masks on. "So… Why does my pass have my actual name on it, and yet yours and Soifon's are aliases?" asked Ichigo, looking at Naruto.

Before they arrived in Konoha, Soifon had given every member of the group a pass that was necessary to enter any of the shinobi villages. Ichigo, Renji, and Toshiro's passes all had their actual names on them, while Naruto and Soifon's had aliases written on them. Naruto's alias read "Menma," while Soifon's read "Wasupu."

Naruto turned to Ichigo, and when he spoke, the mask had altered his voice to the point where he sounded similar to his father, Minato, but exactly like him. "Unlike Soifon-, I mean, Wasupu and I, no one knows who you are Ichigo, so you can use your name without much difficulty. That's also the reason why you're acting as an escort for us."

Now, the first part of the Shinigami's plan was to go to Konoha where Soifon had a covert access to all of the village's networks, including one of the legendary Sannin's Jiraya's spy network. This was to gather any information on their targets and, more importantly, where those targets would strike next. Renji and Hitsugaya's part was to locate the Jinchuurikis outside of their villages and get them back to the said villages or any other safe location if they happened to be missing-nins.

In order to lower the amount of suspicions of their true identities, Naruto and Soifon would be traveling under the pretense that they were members of the Land of Grass Daimyo's family (this was fitting as traveling nobles often kept their identities concealed in the Shinobi World), and Ichigo would be acting as their escort under the pretense that they had been on a trip to the Land of Waves.

Once they had obtained their intel, which would take at least a few days, Naruto and his group would rendezvous with Renji and Hitsugaya at the Kannabi Bridge in the Land of Grass before deciding their next move.

Ichigo scratched his head as he heard the explanation from Naruto and Soifon. "Are the Konoha ninjas really gonna buy such a story? They sound like a bunch of dull group of people if they are…"

"Well, they had better, or we might have a group of those pesky shinobi from the ANBU Black Ops Division tailing us for hours after we leave."

Ichigo sighed but remained silent as the group reached the gate.

[Konoha Cemetery, Konoha, The Shinobi World]

_Three days later…_

A tall figure with spiked black hair walked across the cemetery and stopped in front of two graves placed next to each other. He wore a sleeveless dark grey shirt along with dark blue pants, and he also had on a pair of black metal forearm gauntlets along with a dark grey Konoha headband on his neck. On his back were two blades- a Kodachi and a Wakizashi that were worn diagonally across from each other.

The figure was Sasuke Uchiha, and he had just finished visiting his mother and father's graves and was now standing in front of two tombstones where he pressed his hands together and bowed, paying his respects to the two deceased. The two tombstones were decorated with pale yellow lilies and dark red roses, and on them were carved the name of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, along with a few other things to honor their memories.

"Fourth Hokage… Kushina Uzumaki…" whispered Sasuke, his eyes closed as he straightened up from his bow. "Why didn't I listen to Naruto sooner…?"

_… __After the battle at the Valley of the End, Naruto had been considered to be MIA and not dead as the Konoha shinobis had no idea what had really happened to him. After Sakura and the others intervened, Sasuke had not been punished by the council for his actions. He still wished to seek out Orochimaru and extract his revenge on Itachi, but Jiraya, realizing just how important Sasuke was to Naruto, decided to reveal Naruto's heritage, as well as another few important facts about him, and why Naruto had gone so far as to bring Sasuke back._

_Upon hearing the truth about Naruto, as well as his conscience beginning to heavily weigh down upon him, Sasuke developed a tremendous amount of guilt for trying to kill his best friend. This also caused him to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, which in turn purged Orochimaru's conscious from the curse mark even though Sasuke still wielded the power of the curse mark. He then decided to put his desire for revenge aside in favor of finding Naruto and bringing him back to Konoha._

_Sasuke confronted Itachi a year later before Naruto's mission, and after telling Itachi of what he planned to do as well as declaring that until he had brought Naruto back to Konoha, he wouldn't seek him out in order to kill him, Itachi realized just how much he had grown and had decided to tell Sasuke the truth of the night of the massacre._

_Upon hearing this, Sasuke lost the desire for revenge, but at Itachi's insistence, they decided to fight each other then and there if only to settle the issue once and for all._

_Sasuke defeated Itachi due to Itachi's illness plaguing him, but had been left nearly blind due to overusing his Mangekyo Sharingan. Itachi then asked Sasuke to take his own eyes as a last request and asked him to use them to protect Konoha. Sakura, who had been present for the whole entire battle, proceeded to implant Itachi's eyes into Sasuke once he had been confirmed dead._

_Sasuke gained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and his will to find Naruto grew even stronger, and he was also now preparing for an inevitable confrontation with Tobi after he had done so._

_In addition to this, the rest of the Konoha 11 as well as Sai, who had "temporarily" replaced Naruto as a team member, were willing to give him another chance as he was changing for the better._

_As a result of the past events, Sasuke visited Minato and Kushina's graves once a year on the day that he had fought against Naruto at the Valley of the End…_

…

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked up from his deep thoughts and opened his eyes, turning around to see Sakura standing behind him, her hands clasped in front of her.

Sakura, who looked and dressed very similar from the old her a couple years ago, had grown out her hair, and she now styled the back of her hair into a long ponytail which hung past her neck. She had grown taller, and her body had more curves. She now wore a red sleeveless red top that stopped right below her bosom, and she also wore a red miniskirt with slits on the sides as well as a mesh body suit on underneath her red top that stopped right above her bellybutton. The mesh also extended all the way up to her forearms where it stopped, and she also wore them underneath her miniskirt with bandages wrapped around her left leg. She still wore her headband behind her front bangs, and she wore her usual long black boots.

"Sakura… What is it?" asked Sasuke quietly.

"The others have already headed out, and Sai's waiting for us right now," said Sakura.

"Very well…" Sasuke sighed and glanced one last time at the two graves before turning around and walking away.

As Sasuke passed Sakura, she opened her mouth to speak. "It's been three years since Naruto disappeared," she said. "Sasuke-kun... do you think that we'll ever find him…?"

Sasuke paused next to her, his bowed head. "We'll find him, Sakura… We just have to…"

Sakura nodded, and they both vanished into thin air as they went to meet up with Sai.

* * *

Ichigo turned to Naruto as they walked through the Konoha Training Grounds. "Hey, Nar-, I mean, Menma- I guess that the Konoha shinobi aren't a bunch of idiots after all…"

"This happened because you called them that, Ichigo," he frowned.

He, Ichigo, and Soifon suddenly used flash step to dodge a wave of fuma shurikens that flew towards them. The trio turned to see nine figures standing behind them; Naruto's eyes widened in shock from behind his mask.

_Of all the people they could've sent they had to send my friends... _Naruto thought to himself as he and his companions were confronted by his friends from Teams Asuma Kurenai, and Gai.

One of the figures stepped forward and extended his hand out. He wore a long white robe-like shirt with loose sleeves that closed on the right shoulder along with matching pants and a dark navy-grey apron tied around his waist.

"Please forgive Tenten's rudeness just now," he said as he motioned to a female with Chinese-style buns on either side of her head standing next to him. "My name is Neji Hyūga, a Jonin of this village. Now, please stand down and make this as easy as possible for the both of us. We have been ordered by the Hokage to arrest you three and bring you in for questioning."

Ichigo bared his teeth as he grabbed the hilt of his sealed Zanpakuto which was holstered on the back of his cloak. "Screw you! You can take those orders and shove them up your ass if you think that we're just gonna go anywhere with you guys!"

"What?!" Tenten pointed at Ichigo, a smirk on her face. "You seriously think that we can't take care of a bunch of lost idiots?! There's nine of us are three of you!"

"She's right, orange-haired kid," mumbled a fairly chubby male with long spiky brown hair that hung past his back. "We've got the advantage by sheer numbers alone."

"Oy, I wasn't talking to you, you fatass!" spat Ichigo.

Naruto drew back from Ichigo as he saw the figures face turn red. _Uh-oh…! He just called Choji fat…! We're fucked… We're __so__ fucked!_

"W-What did you just call me…?" whispered Choji venomously. He suddenly seemed to explode as he charged at Ichigo, his fist drawn back. "I'M NOT FAT, YOU JACKASS! I'M JUST PLEASENTLY PLUMP!"

…

Choji's eyes suddenly widened as Soifon stepped in between them and stopped Choji's punch._S-She stopped my punch… with a single hand…?!_

"Maybe I should've just said no…" mumbled Ichigo as he saw the other eight figures taking their stance.

"Gee, you think?" grumbled Naruto as he reached for his Zanpakuto.

Soifon glanced back at the two out of the corner of her eyes as she tightened her grip on Choji's fist, causing him to wince. "Save your strength for the three other ninjas heading this way you two," she said. "I'll deal with these guys myself."

Neji narrowed his eyes as he quickly executed a couple of hand seals. "Byakugan!"

_Hmmm…_ he thought as he stared at Soifon. _This woman… If I'm correct, she's most likely at the level of a powerful Kage... and the two men... are even stronger than that… This is going to be tough…_

Soifon's mouth curved into a wide grin as she felt a slight excitement rise up from inside of her. "Bring it!"

Neji shifted his feet and charged at her with an impressive speed, jabbing his palm out as he aimed for her heart. Soifon saw this coming and tightened her grip on Choji's fist, throwing him over her shoulders and dropping on the ground, kicking up at Neji's arm with her foot.

"Lee, now!" said Neji, glancing back at a bowl-cut figure wearing a green jumpsuit underneath a rough green flak jacket.

"Get ready, intruder!" cried Lee, launching a swift combination of high and low kicks at Soifon.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she dodged all of his kicks easily. _He's not extremely skilled, but he's fast alright… I'll give him that much._

He suddenly crouched down on the ground as he swept his leg at her feet. Soifon saw this out of the corner of her eyes as she parried all of Neji's blows and grabbed her Zanpakuto, stabbing it into the ground and spinning in mid-air. She quickly landed a rapid succession of kick on both Taijutsu users, sending them flying backwards.

"**Mind Transfer Jutsu**!"

Soifon's eyes slightly widened in surprise as she saw a blonde-haired girl staring at her with her arms outstretched, her index and middle fingers along with her thumbs shaped in the form of a circle.

She quickly used flash step to dodge the jutsu, appearing behind the figure and knocking her out before she had a chance to react. Choji ran towards her, his fist drawn back. "**Partial Expansion Jutsu**!" he cried.

His entire right arm suddenly expanded, and he slammed his fist into the spot that Soifon was just at, the ground below him rumbling and cracking. Soifon wrapped her legs around his neck, and executed a backflip, throwing him over her and sending him crashing into a tree.

She suddenly sensed a figure behind her and spun around, raising her arms and blocking an attack from a long black-haired girl with similar eyes as the first figure. "**Hado #1: Shō **(Thrust)!" said Soifon, pointing her finger at the girl.

"Hinata!" yelled out a messy brown-haired figure as she went flying into a tree. He swore as Soifon appeared behind her and kneed her in the stomach, knocking her out. "Dammit! Just what the hell is she?!"

He rushed at Soifon, his eyes narrowed. "Let's go, Akamaru!" he roared as a large white dog ran by his side. "**Ninpo: Beast Human Clone**!"

Akamaru suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, emerging from it as an exact copy of his owner. "**Fang Over Fang**!" he roared as he and his copy jumped into the air, rotating at an almost violent speed.

"Too weak!" called out Soifon as she dropped to the ground, kicking both of them as they passed over her and sending them flying into the air. She crouched down on the ground and jumped into the air, flipping over and executing a drop kick on both of them.

THUD! The ground seemed to explode as both figures slammed into the ground. A figure in a sea-green jacket wearing his hood over his face as well as a high upturned collar extended his hands, sending a swarm of insects towards her. "Go, my insects!" he called out as the bugs swarmed in her direction.

Soifon took her Zanpakuto and levitated it in the air, lightly tapping the end of the handle and sending it spinning in place. "**Hadō #58: Tenran **(Orchid Sky)!"

A giant tornado-like blast generated from the Zanpakuto blew all the insects away, surprising Shino. Soifon used this opportunity to flash step to him and slam her elbow into his back, knocking him out.

"Take this!" cried a voice behind her.

Soifon spun around to see Tenten unrolling a giant scroll, and a giant cloud of smoke appeared, engulfing her. Soifon grabbed her Zanpakuto and spun it with both hands, deflecting the barrage of shurikens and kunais that flew towards her. "You idiots need to learn your place," said Soifon as she sped towards Tenten and slammed her foot into her stomach, a hint of venom in her tone.

Tenten cried out as she went flying, slamming into a large rock that stood in her way. "Now…" sighed Soifon as she cracked her knuckles. "Who's left?"

"I suppose that's me," sighed a voice on her right.

Soifon turned her head to see a guy with long jet black hair tied into a spiky ponytail staring at her with an almost lazy look in his eyes. "My name's Shikamaru Nara," he yawned. "Pleased to meet you."

He slowly clasped his hands together and crouched down on one knee. "Anyway, I don't wanna get yelled at by the Hokage, so if you're gonna knock me out, then do it quickly… Shadow Possession Jutsu."

Soifon's eyes narrowed as a thin line of shadow emerged from Shikamaru's own shadow, touching and blending in with the surrounding shadows around him. _So __**this**__ is the Shadow Possession Jutsu…_ said Soifon to herself as she looked around her.

She suddenly jumped into the air as multiple shadows in the form of sharp needles shot out at her from her surrounding shadows. "What a troublesome ability," commented Soifon as she flash stepped away before one of the shadows could reach her.

"Shut up and get caught already," sighed Shikamaru. "Anyway, you're right. My Shadow Possession Jutsu allows me to use my surrounding shadows in order to bind or attack my opponents. _This _particular jutsu is called the Shadow Sewing Jutsu. This allows me to use the shadows around me as weapon in order to attack my opponents if you haven't noticed already."

_Why is he talking so much…?_ wondered Soifon as she dodged the shadow needles. _He doesn't seem like that type, and yet it sounds like… Wait, is he-?_

"**Leaf Hurricane**!"

_Crap!_ Soifon spun around and flash stepped away, barely dodging Lee as his leg brushed her cloak. _This guy… He's smarter than I thought… He seems lazy, but he's pretty strong... and definitely smart._

Soifon grabbed Lee's leg and threw him at Shikamaru, but he simply used one of his shadow needles to grab Lee and gently place him on the ground. "Thanks, Shikamaru-kun!" said Lee as he brushed his jacket off.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he noticed Soifon had disappeared. _Crap! I take my eyes off of her for one second and-!_

His eyes suddenly rolled towards the back of his head as he blacked out, Soifon standing behind him. She quickly dropped down on the ground and swept at Lee's legs, tripping him. Grabbing him by the arm, Soifon swiftly dispatched him with a blow to his neck.

"Stupid kids," she said quietly as she walked back to where Ichigo and Naruto were standing. Naruto silently walked over to the defeated ninjas and placed his hands on the conscious ones, using Hakufuku to put them to sleep before healing the group of ninjas.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't let you interfere..." he said.

He suddenly glanced behind him out of the corner of his eyes as three figures appeared behind Ichigo and Soifon.

The three figures were Sasuke, Sakura, and another pale figure with black hair and a dark grey shirt and matching pants. Ichigo glanced at the figures and turned to look at Naruto. "I'll take care of these three, Menma."

Naruto nodded. "Don't kill them, though; they're only trying to defend Konoha… Anyway, once you beat them, we have to leave."

"I know," replied Ichigo quietly as he reached for his Zanpakuto. He held it out in front of him as he stared coolly at the three figures. _So the guy in the center must be Sasuke, and that girl must be Sakura…_

"So, does your huge sword actually serve a purpose, or are you just compensating for something?" asked the third figure with a smile, which Naruto noted to be even more fake than Aizen's, on his face.

…

Ichigo blinked. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry," apologized the figure with a smile. "Maybe I should have been more clear. I meant to ask, 'do you have dick?'"

"HUH?!" Ichigo's face turned bright red as Soifon and Naruto struggled not to laugh out loud. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF THREAT WAS THAT YOU IDIOT!" he yelled, a comical scowl on his face. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAY, 'stop right there,' OR, 'Take one step and you're dead,' NOT, 'DO YOU HAVE A DICK?'"

The figure blinked, looking genuinely confused. "Did I say something wrong? It's ok if you don't have anything between your legs, you know."

Ichigo growled, seriously pissed off as of now. "What's your name?" he asked, pointing his Zanpakuto at the pale figure. "I want know whose ass I'm about to kick first."

"Who, me?" asked Sai, pointing to himself. "My name is Sai. It's nice to meet you."

"Sai, huh?" grinned Ichigo. "Well, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki! It's-." His eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he raised his blade, forced to block Sasuke's attack as he used both of his swords to slash at him.

"T-This is-," said Ichigo in a surprised tone. "You're channeling lightning through your sword…?"

"This is surprising," said Sasuke in a calm tone. "You shouldn't have been able to block my swords with a normal weapon."

"And since when did you assume that this was a normal weapon?" said Ichigo as his blade struggled with Sasuke's.

"What's your real name, intruder?" asked Sasuke, a calm look on his face.

"Che!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he observed Sasuke. _This guy reminds me of Uryu… How annoying!_ "I've been using my real name this whole time."

"Then I guess I should introduce myself; I'm Sasuke Uchiha," said Sasuke as he forced Ichigo back an inch. "If your group is going to fight, then my team and I are going to have to take you three out…"

Ichigo grinned as he pushed Sasuke back with his sword. "It ain't gonna be that easy, pal!" He then tucked his Zanpakuto between his arms, and his eyes began to turn blue-white as his Zanpakuto began to glow.

"**Protect, Zangetsu **(Slaying Moon)!"

Next Time - The Deathberry's Power: Ichigo vs. Team Kakashi


	13. 12: The Deathberry's Power

**Chapter 12: The Deathberry's Power: Ichigo vs Team Kakashi**

Disclaimer: Still applies

[Konoha, The Shinobi World]

_Tucking his Zanpakuto between his arms, Ichigo's eyes began to turn blue-white as his Zanpakuto began to glow._

_Sakura stared at Ichigo confusedly, and she unconsciously wiped the sweat off of her forehead with her arm. What's this feeling that I'm getting…? she wondered inwardly._

_Ichigo narrowed his eyes, and the very air itself seemed to scream out as he slashed out at Sasuke with his Zanpakuto._

_"__**Protect, Zangetsu **__(Slaying Moon)!" roared Ichigo._

THUD! Sasuke jumped out of the cloud of dust that filled the air, barely avoiding the almost fatal attack. He glanced up with his eyes and wiped a tiny trickle of blood from his forehead with his finger, a surprised look on his face.

Sasuke stared hard at Ichigo, and to his surprise, as well as Sakura and Sai's, he suddenly noticed Ichigo's transformed sword.

Ichigo's sword now resembled an oversized khyber knife with a sleek black blade with a silver edge. It had no tsuba or hilt but a cloth-wrapped tang that Ichigo held onto, and the entire sword was almost as tall as Ichigo himself was.

_Something…_ Sasuke grimaced slightly as he felt something churn inside of him. _Something's definitely wrong here…_ He suddenly widened his eyes as he stared intently at Ichigo, his onyx eyes turning red as three spinning tomoes appeared in his eyes. _Sharingan!_

_I-Impossible…!_ Sasuke unconsciously stepped back as he stared at Ichigo with an expression of utter disbelief and horror on his face. _T-This is… This guy and his two friends are somehow suppressing most of their powers, and they're already at a Kage level…?! No-, that's only concerning the woman… These two guys… they're easily at a level of a Bijuu!_

Ichigo, noticing the shocked expression on Sasuke's face, straightened up and rested the blade of Zangetsu on his shoulder. "You scared?" he asked casually. "Well, you should be, because I'm going to kick all of your asses!"

Ichigo then built up a large amount of reiatsu in his blade and swung it at Sasuke as his two team members. "**Getsuga Tensho **(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!" shouted Ichigo as he swung his blade at them.

Sasuke and the others looked on in shock as a large wave of blue energy in the form of a crescent generated from the tip of the intruder's blade and sped at them. They were barely able to dodge the attack, and Sakura cried out as she was hit by the impact of the blast and sent flying into a tree.

"So your sword actually _does_ serve a purpose," remarked Sai cheerfully as he landed on a branch of a tree in a crouch.

Ichigo's eye twitched as he heard this, and Naruto, seeing this, walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Ichigo," he said. "Also, watch where you fire those things, will you? If you aim it the wrong way, you could end up eventually destroying Konoha."

Ichigo nodded, still facing forward. "Got it, Menma… My bad. I-." He suddenly stopped talking and blinked as he noticed a sudden spike in Sasuke's chakra levels. "What the hell…?"

He turned his head to face Sasuke, and his jaw dropped as the cloud of dust cleared up. Sasuke now had dark grey skin along with a black four-point star-mark between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose, and his hair was now waist-length in the same style. His sclerae and irides were now black and yellow, respectively, and he now had claw-like nails as well as unusual blue lips. What surprised Ichigo the most, however, was the fact that Sasuke had now grown large webbed hand-shaped wings on his back.

Ichigo closed his mouth and grinned. "Well, I thought that I had seen everything, but this is…"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in shock as he took a step forward. _T-This is the second stage of his Curse Mark…! It feels so different from last time, however; it feels as if the corruptive influence of the Curse Mark is gone, unlike before._

Sakura glanced at Sasuke before biting her thumb and wiping the tiny trickle of blood across the palm of her right hand. "**Summoning Jutsu**!" she cried, slamming her hand on the ground.

A giant cloud of smoke appeared, enveloping the whole entire area. Once the smoke cleared up, Ichigo saw a giant slug in place of the smoke with Sakura standing by its side. "Katsuyu-sama, please take my friends away from this area and heal them while my teammates and I battle the intruders."

"Understood!" said Katsuyu as it split up into hundreds of small version of itself.

Reaching into her top, Sakura pulled out a small scroll which she held out and unrolled. Quickly executing three hand seals, Sakura grabbed two large single-bladed Kusarigamas that appeared from the cloud of smoke and held them out by her side. "Ready," she stated as she stared at Ichigo.

"My team and I won't hold back, intruder," stated Sasuke as he stared at Ichigo.

Ichigo raised his blade and held it out in front of him. "Bring it on, Sasuke!" he said, rushing at Sasuke with his sword held out at his side.

Ducking in order to avoid Ichigo's slash, Sasuke spun the sword in his left hand and stabbed up with it, aiming to stab Ichigo through his chin. Ichigo saw this coming and easily avoided it, but his eyes slightly widened in surprise as Sasuke used this moment to spin around and slash at Ichigo's back with both swords, his moves almost reminiscent of a dance.

_This guy's skilled with swords,_ said Ichigo to himself, mildly surprised. He quickly used flash step to get out of the sword's range, but Sasuke, having expected this, simply teleported to Ichigo's side and kicked at him.

Ichigo grabbed Sasuke's leg and threw him against a tree, but Sasuke used his wings to balance himself in mid-air and pushed himself off of the tree with his legs, delivering a series of quick stabs at him with both swords.

Ichigo dodged the attacks with little effort, but he grimaced slightly as one of Sasuke's blades sliced off a single strand of his hair. _Ok, this is getting a little annoying,_ he said as he sighed inwardly.

Slapping Sasuke's blade aside, Ichigo used flash step to appear above Sasuke, grabbing the cloth attached to his Zanpakuto and spinning his sword above his head.

"**Getsuga no Kama** (The Moon Fang's Bite)!" Ichigo yelled out as he channeled his reiatsu into his blade.

Instead of using a normal Getsuga Tensho, however, Ichigo used a version of that in order to amplify the power of his Deadly Darts technique that he had learned from his inner Hollow. As he repeatedly threw his Zanpakuto at Sasuke, the energy-infussed blade created a massive energy blast every time it made physical contact with an object, much to the surprise of Soifon and the Konoha-nin.

Sasuke, surprised by this sudden move, barely managed to dodge the attacks as Ichigo threw his Zanpakuto at him, yanked it back, and repeat. "Sakura, now!" said Sasuke as he glanced at his female teammate.

"Kai!" shouted Sakura as she made a hand seal with her hands. _If this guy can fight this well against Sasuke-kun, then I need to go all out from the beginning!_

Ichigo looked at Sakura with a surprised look on his face as a violet rhombus mark appeared in the middle of her forehead. The mark then spread extended and spread across Sakura's face in the form of lines. "**White Strength Seal**," whispered Sakura as she glared at Ichigo. _Now I'm ready…_

Rushing at Ichigo, Sakura jumped into the air and drew her fist back. "Shannaro!" she shouted as her fist slammed into the spot where Ichigo was just at a second ago.

Ichigo wobbled and struggled not to fall as the entire area basically exploded from the force of the punch. "W-what's up with this girl's strength?!" screamed Ichigo comically as he sped away as fast as possible from Sakura.

"**Suiton: Snake's Mouth**!" said Sakura as he ran towards Ichigo.

A giant dragon-like snake made of water suddenly rose up from the rubble besides Sakura, charging at Ichigo with a loud roar. Ichigo silently swore to himself as he cut and sliced the jutsu, but the giant water snake rose up and twisted from side-to-side as it opened its gaping mouth to swallow Ichigo. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and channeled his reiatsu through his blade, finally slashing at the dragon. "**Getsuga Tensho**!" he shouted as he slashed at the snake's mouth.

The snake continued to charge through the attack, but it was finally overwhelmed by Ichigo's attack and died down with a roar, exploding and raining the area below with a short downfall of lifted her head and stared hard at him. "Precise chakra control… This isn't anything that releasing my Yin Seal did."

"Sakura, watch out!" shouted Sasuke as he stared behind her with wide eyes.

"What?" Sakura looked behind her, only to be cut down by Ichigo. "Ugh… W-What…"

Ichigo looked down at the fallen Konoha shinobi as he laid the edge of his blade on his shoulder. "One down," he said dully as he looked up at Sasuke. "Now…"

His eyes suddenly widened as he leaped back away from Sakura as she came up and tried to deliver an uppercut. _W-What the hell…? I know that I cut her down for sure, but she's still standing…? Wait a second! Her wounds… gone…?! But how is this possible…?!_

"You're a hard one to take down," remarked Ichigo as he stared down at her.

"_This_ is the power of my White Strength Seal," explained Sakura as she stared up at him. "It basically gives me an indestructible body for a brief period of time. All of your attacks are useless as long as this jutsu is activated!"

"Oh really?" said Ichigo quietly. "Well then…" He lifted his blade to release a Getsuga Tensho, but he instead spun it around and used the flat of the blade to block Sai as he appeared behind him, his foot slamming into Ichigo's blade.

Sai executed a couple of hand seals and brought his hands together, his index fingers crossing diagonally to form an "x." Sai narrowed his eyes as he spun around and used his legs to lock Ichigo's arm and blade. "**Fuuton: Raging Wind**!"

A powerful gust of wind generated from Sai's hand, and Ichigo swore and yanked his hand, using his brute strength to position his sword as a shield. The gust of wind slammed into the flat of Ichigo's blade, and he went flying into a tree from the sheer force of the attack.

Using his legs, Ichigo landed on the trunk of the tree in a crouch and pushed himself off of it, surprising Sai as he swung at him with his Zanpakuto. "That was a good try," said Ichigo as Sai quickly drew his own tip-less tantō and blocked his attack. "Come to think of it, I said that I was gonna kick your ass first, didn't I?"

"You sure did, you dickless pansy," smiled Sai.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he glared him. "Why you little-. He stopped talking as he noticed Sasuke leaping into the sky.

"**Summoning Jutsu**!" said Sasuke in mid-flip, his hands outstretched.

With a poof, a large brown hawk appeared in the sky, Sasuke landing on it as he glanced at Ichigo out of the corner of his eyes.

As the hawk screeched and sped towards Ichigo, Sasuke whipped out ten shurikens from seal on his arm and threw them at him in rapid succession. Using his blade to push Sai out of the way, Ichigo sliced at the hawk, nearly cutting the bird in half before it dissipated in time to save itself, and continued his slashed even though it was hitting nothing but the air, blowing the shurikens away towards Sasuke with just his sheer brute strength.

Ichigo quickly spun around instantaneously and blocked an attack from Sai, grinning as his blade scraped against Sai's. "How ya doing, pansy?"

"Sai, now!"

Ichigo turned around in shock to see Sasuke standing below him, his swords in hand. Looking back up at the other Sasuke, Ichigo's eyes widened as it disappeared into a cloud of smoke._What the hell?!_

Sai suddenly retreated, leaving Ichigo all alone as he landed on the ground, looking around to see what was going on.

"This is it, intruder!" shouted Sakura as she suddenly appeared above him, her Kusarigamas spinning rapidly above her head.

"**Chidori **(One Thousand Birds)!" roared Sasuke as he ran toward him. He grabbed his wrist as he ran, and the lightning-blue jutsu darkened and turned black, surprising Ichigo as well as Soifon.

_That's… Black Chidori…_ said Naruto in his head as he stared at it in shock.

"**Fuuton: Vacuum Serial Waves**!" shouted Sai as he took a deep breath, breathing out multiple blades of wind that sped towards Ichigo.

"Take this!" shouted Sakura, slamming her Kusarigamas down onto Ichigo.

Ichigo looked around and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he lifted up his Zanpakuto and channeled his Getsuga Tensho into it.

Opening his eyes, Ichigo slammed the blade into the ground, causing a giant blue sphere to emerge around him. "**Getsuga** **Dōmu** (Moon Fang Dome)!"

"What?!" exclaimed Sasuke as he and his two teammate's attacks were repelled by the blue sphere of energy.

"This is getting annoying," frowned Ichigo. Quickly dissipating the sphere, Ichigo quickly teleported to Sakura's side and slammed the end of Zangetsu's hilt into Sakura's back, hard. Sakura's eyes rolled up towards the back of her head as she fell down on the ground, unconscious.

Sai tried to attack Ichigo with his tantō, but Ichigo took a deep breath and swung his Zanpakuto at him. "**Getsuga** **Tensho**!"

"Sakura! Sai!"

Sai's eyes widened in shock as he fell down on the ground with a large gash across his chest and stomach. Ichigo glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eyes. "So you used that lightning thingy of yours to soften the blow, huh? Good move."

Soifon, who was watching the fight calmly with Naruto, turned to face him when she saw the blue sphere of reiatsu surrounding Ichigo. "Naruto… What was that move that he used just now? I've never seen anything like it before…"

"Oh, that?" Naruto said from behind his mask. "That's Getsuga Dōmu, a defensive move that I helped him to develop after he had learned how to control his reiatsu. He also developed the move 'Getsuga no Kama,' which was the dart-like move that he used just a while ago. They're all basically variants of his Getsuga Tensho."

"I see…" Soifon turned back to face Ichigo as she watched him knock Sakura and Sai out. _He's grown tremendously in just the short time that he's been a Shinigami…_

Ichigo quickly spun around and slashed at Sasuke, who blocked the attack with his two wings. "That's an impressive form you have there, Sasuke," commented Ichigo as he stared at Sasuke's two wings.

Sasuke glanced at his two unconscious partners and sighed. Wiping a small trickle of blood from his forehead, Sasuke quickly executed a couple of hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground. "**Summoning Jutsu**!"

A giant cloud of smoke filled the air, and a moment later, in its place stood a giant white snake that towered above the trees along with two smaller white snakes which still stood as tall the trees.

The biggest snake looked down at Sasuke, who was standing next to it. "Sasuke-sama," it hissed in a surprisingly polite voice.

"Aoda…" Sasuke looked up at it. "Order the two others to take Sakura and Sai back to the village."

Aoda nodded and hissed at the two other snakes with a strange whistling sound. After a moment, the two other snakes "nodded" and slithered off to fetch Sakura and Sai, while Aoda stayed by Sasuke's side.

"You'll pay for hurting my comrades, you bastard," spat Sasuke angrily.

Ichigo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "Isn't there any way that I could talk you out of this?"

"Don't give me that pile of crap now after what you just did," said Sasuke. He stretched out his hand and motioned for Ichigo to approach him. "Come on! Bring it!"

Sighing exasperatedly, Ichigo took his sword and held it out in front of him, gripping it with both hands as he stared hard at Sasuke. "Very well then… If you're going to keep fighting, then I have no choice but to use it…"

Sasuke tilted his head as he looked at Ichigo inquiringly, but as he opened his mouth, Ichigo suddenly seemed to explode with energy as Sasuke stared at him with a shocked look on his face.

"BANKAI!" yelled Ichigo.

THUD! The entire area seemed to explode in a bright blue light as a column of wind resembling a mini tornado surrounded Ichigo.

_W-What is this…?!_ said Sasuke to himself in utter shock. _This power…!_

When the column of wind dissipated Ichigo became visible again, his attire and blade having changed appearances. Ichigo was now wearing a black long-sleeved ankle-length black shihakushō with red lining closed at his chest as well as ragged ends. In his hand was a black daitō with a four pronged crossguard bent out in the form of a manji.

"**Tensa** **Zangetsu **(Heavenly Chain Slaying Moon)," Ichigo said pointing his sword at the Uchiha clansman, as if he were daring him to attack.

_This guy…_ Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stared at Ichigo. _I can tell that his blade is compressing his power, but despite that, his power has increased by over tenfold…!_

"Aoda, now!" ordered Sasuke as he lunged at Ichigo, his swords flashing as he slashed at him.

"Yes, Sasuke-sama!" hissed Aoda as he lunged at Ichigo as well.

"Che!" Ichigo sighed and slowly lifted his blade into the air, stabbing down with it as Sasuke and Aoda lunged at him. "**Getsuga** **Dōmu**!"

The enhanced Getsuga Dōmu not only repelled both Sasuke and Aoda but caused a massive shockwave that destroyed the ground surrounding Ichigo.

Sasuke grimaced as he was blown back and crashed through multiple trees and rocks, forced out of his curse mark two state while his summon Aoda was forcibly dissipated. _Dammit…_

Sasuke widened his eyes as the three tomoes spread out and turned into three red intercepting ellipses with a three-bladed shuriken in the middle of them. Quickly balancing himself in mid-air, he teleported from his current spot to where Ichigo was at. "**Amaterasu **(Heavenly Illumination)!" whispered Sasuke.

Ichigo's eyes widened as Sasuke's left eye began to bleed, and Soifon swore silently to herself as she saw this. _Dammit! It's Amaterasu! I have to-!_

She opened her mouth to warn Ichigo, but she was too late as a small spark of black flame appeared directly in front of Ichigo's face.

Ichigo grinned, surprising Sasuke. _Whatever he's grinning about, he still won't be able to dodge my Amaterasu!_

...

"I-Impossible," whispered Sasuke in shock. "How did you…"

Ichigo grinned from his spot behind Sasuke, his blade pressing against the Uchiha's throat. "It was nothing really," he chuckled. "My Bankai increases my speed tremendously. Of course of you think I'm too slow for you I could always go even faster than this."

Naruto turned to a rather surprised Soifon

"He already knows about the Mangekyo Sharingan and Amaterasu; you don't have to worry about warning him," he said to which the 2nd Division captain nodded.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he clenched his teeth. "Don't underestimate the shinobi of Konoha or the Uchiha you damned fool!"

… "**Susanoo**!"

Ichigo cursed and leaped back as a large reddish-orange skeletal figure manifested around Sasuke, grabbing at Ichigo with three of its four large skeletal hands. Several layers of armor that was the same color as the skeletal figure, which resemble some sort of samurai's armor, covered the figure while a mouth-like opening formed on the armor giving off a beak-like shape. There were also what appeared to be energy swords the same color as the creature that were forming in three of the creature's hands. More concerning, however, was the sword covered in Amaterasu flames forming in the creature's fourth hand.

"W-What the hell?!" yelled Ichigo as he fended off the creature's three "normal" blades. "What is this thing?!"

"This is my Susanoo," explained Sasuke with a menacing look in his eyes. "It's the Mangekyo Sharingan's strongest ability. Now…"

Sasuke raised his Kodachi into the air(he had already sheathed his Wakizashi), with his Susanoo did the same. "Die!" he yelled as he slashed down at Ichigo with his sword.

Sasuke looked on his shock as Ichigo, who had already pushed the other swords away, effortlessly blocked the attack with Tensa Zangetsu before suddenly disappearing and reappearing behind Sasuke.

Ichigo had sliced through Susanoo's arm like it was a piece of paper, and the arm dispersed as it landed on the ground with a loud "thud."

Quickly spinning around, Ichigo grabbed his Zanpakuto with both hands as he channeled his Getsuga Tensho into the tip of his blade, compressing it. Lifting it up and pointing it at Sasuke, Ichigo narrowed his eyes as his Zanpakuto began to emit a black aura.

"**Tensho no Yari** (The Heaven-Piercer's Spear)!" cried Ichigo as he black-red spear-shaped beam shot out of the tip of Tensa Zangetsu.

Sasuke stared ahead at the forest that lay in front of him with a dumbfounded look on his face as Susanoo dispersed, completely obliterated by the attack. "I-Impossible…" he whispered.

"It's over," said Ichigo calmly as he appeared in front of Sasuke, slashing the right side of his chest.

Sasuke immediately fell to the ground as Ichigo resealed his zanpakuto just as Naruto approached the Uchiha.

"Sorry about this, Sasuke, but we can't let you continue to fight on like this… Hakufuku."

Sasuke's eyes slowly closed shut as he stared at Naruto, a calm look spreading across his face.

… "Don't worry," added Ichigo as he turned to glance at a worried Naruto. "It was a non-lethal attack."

"Thanks," said Naruto as he stared at his fallen former comrade.

"Sorry about having to have knocked out your friends, though," said Ichigo as he sheathed his sealed Zanpakuto.

Naruto waved this off as he kept staring at Sasuke. "It wasn't your fault, Ichigo, so it's no big deal," he replied as he knelt down next to a now unconscious Sasuke.

"Let me just heal him really quick," said Naruto as he placed his hands over his unconscious friend.

After two or three minutes, Naruto stood up, motioning for Ichigo and Soifon to follow his lead. Just as they were about to take off, however, Naruto stopped abruptly, motioning for his two comrades to do the same. _This chakra… It's…_

"I can sense them as well," said Ichigo as he stared off into the direction that the sources of chakra were coming from. "It's more of your friends, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, I really don't wanna knock anymore of your friends up," sighed Ichigo. "What are we gonna do about them?"

"Let's withdraw," replied Naruto. "We don't have any more time to waste."

Just as he said this, however, the group of shinobis arrived at the scene. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he studied the group. _Kakashi-sensei. Asuma-sensei. Kurenai-sensei. Super Bushy Brows-sensei. Ero-sennin…_

Kakashi took a step forward and pointed his kunai at the group. "You need to stand down. Don't make us have to force you to do so," he said as he lifted his headband up, revealing his Sharingan.

Soifon stepped in at this moment. "We don't have anymore time to deal with the likes of you guys, so-."

"You can drop the royal family charade now, Sui-Feng," sighed Jiraya as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's useless to try that in front of me."

Ichigo looked surprised by this, while Naruto, on the other hand, had expected for something like this to happen. Soifon sighed and pulled down her hood, taking off her mask as well in the process. "Very well then…"

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock when he saw her face. _S-She hasn't aged even after ten years…?!_

Soifon stared at Jiraya with a hard look in her eyes. "So you actually figured it out… Jiraya-chan," she said in a mocking tone.

Next Time - The Next Move

**Misc. Information:**

**- For reference the part where Ichigo blocks Sasuke's Flame Control Sword is similar to how he blocked Yammy's punch in the beginning of the Arrancar Arc.**

**- Fuuton: Raging Wind is just a jutsu that TheUchiha'sLegacy invented for this. It just seemed like a jutsu Sai would use, so he decided to add it in the story.**


	14. 13: The Next Move

**Chapter 13: The Next Move**

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Konoha, The Shinobi World]

"Well Jiraya-chan, I'm honestly surprised to see that you only came with Kakashi-chan and a few other small fries this time around," said Soifon as she faced her two old acquaintances.

Jiraya scoffed smugly out loud at this. "These 'small fries' are more than enough to take you down, Sui-Feng," he replied.

Soifon narrowed her eyes at this before flashing a smirk. "I would've thought that you would've known better than that after I kicked you and the other two Sannin's asses the last time we crossed paths, but it seems that some people will never learn…"

Ichigo blinked as he turned to face Naruto. "Wait, am I missing something here…?"

"Soifon had crossed paths with the Three Legendary Sannin, including Jiraiya, over twenty years ago, and had also fought Kakashi around ten years ago," explained Naruto softly. "Naturally, Soifon kicked their asses when she fought them but because they started the battle in order to arrest her and were not her targets at the time, and since she is forbidden to kill humans needlessly, even those who are shinobi, she had to spare them."

Ichigo turned back to face Jiraya and the others. "I see…"

"Sui-Feng... the shinobi that all shinobis fear…" said Kakashi as he stepped forward. "You're wanted for the assassinations for several high ranking shinobis throughout the Hidden Villages, including at least three Kages; you've also been placed on the Bingo Book of every nation, even those outside of the Allied Lands..."

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here in Konoha," growled Asuma as he stared hard at Soifon.

Soifon gave Asuma a dangerous grin. "And _you_ guys have a lot nerve for trying to confront me at your current levels," she retorted.

"We'll find a way to defeat you and your team if that's what it takes to stop you from harming Konoha," replied Jiraya calmly.

"Prepared to be defeated, Sui-Feng," Guy said as he got into his fighting stance.

Unsheathing her Zanpakuto, Soifon stabbed it into the ground, cracking her knuckles as she prepared to fight. "I'd like to see you try…"

Just as Soifon finished her sentence, Naruto flash stepped in between the two groups while holding his right fist, which was closed except his index and middle fingers, in front of the shinobi. "**Bakudo #1: Sai **(Restrain)," he said blankly.

Jiraya and the other's eyes widened in shock as they were suddenly restrained by an invisible force which caused them to fall to the ground. "What is this?!" exclaimed Kakashi as he tried to free himself from the invisible bindings.

"My name is Menma," said Naruto as he introduced himself. "Please excuse my colleague for her rudeness, but she tends to get a little cocky when speaking with other shinobis."

Ignoring the angry glare Soifon was giving him, Naruto continued. "We have no intention of laying a finger on Konoha, but we're on a mission of our own and have no time for any delays… so as long as you stay out of our way we'll leave you and the village in peace. Now... please excuse us."

"It's time to go," said Naruto as he turned to Soifon and Ichigo.

And with that, Naruto and the others flash stepped away, leaving the Jiraiya and the others restrained.

A few minutes later, the trio escaped by breaking through an unguarded part of Konoha's wall. Looking back at the spot where they had left Jiraya and the others restrained, Naruto snapped his fingers, releasing the Kido and freeing them.

"Now, on to Kannabi Bridge," said Soifon, and the group made a beeline for Kannabi Bridge.

[Kannabi Bridge, The Land of Grass]

_A day later…_

* * *

Naruto and the others finally arrived at Kannabi Bridge, which was a large stone white and red bridge with an arch on the bottom of it. Toshiro and Renji were already waiting for Naruto and his group as they had arrived a while earlier.

"Wow, you guys got here early," said Naruto as the group stopped in front of the two.

"The two Jinchuurikis from the Hidden Cloud Village are already within the confines of the village, and the only Jinchuuriki that gave us any trouble was the missing-nin Utakata, the Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi."

Soifon stepped forward at this moment. "So where is he right now then?"

"A small clan of shinobis owed Utakata a favor, so he's currently staying with them at their main stronghold," he explained. "It's not that far from the bridge, so Abarai and I came here right after we were done with him."

"I see…" Naruto sighed as he glanced up at the sky. "So are they all safe?"

Toshiro nodded. "Other than the Sanbi Jinchuuriki, the others are out of danger for the moment."

"And we'll deal with that problem soon enough," Naruto said.

"So what's our next move?" asked Ichigo.

"Hmmm…" Soifon tapped the hilt of her Zanpakuto as she thought about this. "The intel we received from my contacts in Konoha points to the fact that the Akatsuki plans to capture the Ichibi Jinchuuriki named Gaara, the Fifth and current Kazekage."

Ichigo looked surprised by this. "Really? Naruto, didn't you tell me about this Gaara person?"

"Yes I did; if you need a refresher he's a fellow Jinchuuriki, and he's around my age," said Naruto before Soifon entered the conversation again.

"In addition, because a Kage rarely leaves their village in times of peace, the Akatsuki's only option would be to infiltrate the Hidden Sand Village and capture him there."

Ichigo, Toshiro, and Renji looked shocked. "Would the Akatsuki really even have the nerve to attack one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?" asked Renji.

Naruto sighed. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

Signaling for the others to follow him, Naruto flash stepped away, the rest of the group following him as they headed for the Hidden Sand Village.

* * *

[The Hokage's Office, Konoha, The Shinobi World]

Sasuke, as well as the rest of Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, Team Kurenai, and Team Guy, were explaining to Tsunade what had just happened a while back and how they had gotten their asses handed to them by Soifon and her team.

"Hmmm…" Tsunade folded her hands and rested her chin on them as she thought about what Sasuke had just said. "So let me get this straight… Sui-Feng arrived in Konoha with two teammates, if that was what they are, and defeated the nine of you (he turns to look at Teams Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy) while one of her teammate defeated your team (she then turns to Team Kakashi) with almost no effort at all?"

Sasuke nodded. "That's right," he said, a hint of anger in his voice, though his anger was less because of his losing to this Ichigo guy and more due to the fact that his friends had gotten hurt and he couldn't stop it at the time.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. _Ichigo Kurosaki… Forget about Shikamaru and the others... hell, forget about Sui-Feng returning... but singlehandedly defeating Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai, even with Sasuke's restrictions, all at once without so getting much as a scratch on himself? That's impossible! And then there's this Menma character... we don't even know what he can do and he's supposedly at this Ichigo's level?! Just what are you up to now... Sui-Feng?_

"Do you mind if I ask something that's been on my mind lately?" asked Sasuke.

Tsunade off her thoughts and looked up at the young Uchiha. "Go ahead."

"Just who is this Sui-Feng person?" he asked. "I know that I've definitely heard her name before, but that's all I know."

Asuma smirked, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "I forgot that you and Neji just became Jonin a few weeks ago. Otherwise you wouldn't have asked that question."

As Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, Tsunade raised her hand, stopping him. "In any case, Sui-Feng reappearing in Konoha is a possible threat to us so I think it might be a good time to answer your question, Sasuke."

* * *

OST:

"Confrontment" (From Naruto)(link: www. youtube .com watch?v=d57-85_Sfeg)

(Remember to include slashes and to backspace).

* * *

The Hokage took a deep breath before continuing. "Sui-Feng is known as 'the shinobi that all shinobis fear.' Everyone that is at least a Jonin rank has heard of her at one point or another in their lives. The first important thing you should know is that Sui-Feng's origins are a completely mystery. No one knows who really she is or where she is from, despite the fact that we've been searching for quite a while now…"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this. "Has anyone outside of Konoha even _tried_ to find out what her 'origins ' are?"

Kurenai stepped in at this moment, answering Shikamaru's question in Tsunade's stead. "Countless investigations on Sui-Feng have been conducted by the Five Great Shinobi Nations to this very day," she stated. "Actually, it's the only time when the Five Great Shinobi Villages will actually cooperate on something on a regular basis. We've always come up empty-handed however."

Tsunade frowned, regaining everyone's attention by cracking her knuckles very loudly. When everyone's focus was turned back to her, Tsunade smiled. "There we go." She turned to look at Sasuke. "Anyways, as I was saying, what we _do_ know is that the first accounts regarding Sui-Feng… come from before the founding of the shinobi villages."

Sasuke, along with his peers, looked shocked by this. "S-So, is this Sui-Feng person i-immortal…?" asked Hinata timidly from behind Shikamaru.

Tsunade sighed, slowly shaking her head. "I wish I knew, Hinata… I wish I knew…"

… After a few moments of silence, Tsunade continued. "Sui-Feng has not only lived for an extraordinary long time, but she is, as you- Tsunade nodded at Sasuke- and some of the others from the Konoha Twelve have found out, unbelievably skilled. Her speed, Taijutsu, and Kenjutsu skills are way beyond what any normal shinobi is capable of and these abilities, along with her arsenal of unusual jutsus, her overwhelming power, and her mastery of stealth and assassination techniques, and, means that most inexperienced shinobis would die before they comrades even knew what was happening."

Hinata and the others who had fought against Soifon bowed their heads in embarrassment as they remembered how easily Soifon had taken them out.

"… But, despite her incredible powers, Sui-Feng has actually killed far less people than some people might think. She will only kill people who she often refers to as her 'targets,' which suggests that she is probably taking orders from a superior, although just who that person or organization might be is also a mystery…"

"Um, Tsunade-sama…" Sakura raised her hand mid-way, catching her master's attention. "Who has this Sui-Feng person killed so far, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tsunade nodded. "It's fine, Sakura. One of Sui-Feng's first known victims was Tajima Uchiha, the leader of the Uchiha Clan before Madara Uchiha. He was also Madara and his brother Izuna's father, and rumors say that Madara had actually witnessed the death of his father at the hands of Sui-Feng, and as a result, he was able to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the mention of Madara, having remembered the things Itachi had told him regarding Madara shortly before the latter's death.

"Now, let's see…" Tsunade rubbed her chin as she thought about some other victims of Sui-Feng. "Some of her other known victims included, the Gold and Silver Brothers of the Hidden Cloud, and at least three members of the strongest generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, and many others... including three Kages: the First Tsuchikage, the Second Kazekage, and the Third Mizukage."

* * *

OST Scene Ends

* * *

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "N-No way…! _Three_ kages?!"

Tsunade nodded. "It's surprising, isn't it? She was also able to defeat the the the Three Legendary Sannin, by which I mean Jiraya, Orochimaru, and myself. She fought all of us at once, but even than we were no match for her, as much as I hate to admit it… She also defeated two of the other current kages, Onoki and A, Kakashi, as well as several other prominent ninjas singlehandedly; however, those ninjas, unlike the others, were all spared as they were not Sui-Feng's targets at the time."

Everyone in the room except for the Konoha Twelve's elders were absolutely shocked by this. Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she said one last thing. "The thing that I find unusual this time is that Sui-Feng is now a part of a team as she has always fought alone all this time… You must proceed with caution if you should encounter them again… (she sighs) If these teammates of hers are even stronger than Sui-Feng, then the situation is even more grim than it had ever been…"

At this point, Jiraya entered the room through the window, glancing around the room as he landed on the floor in a crouch. "It's even worse than you think, Tsunade," he said right off the bat.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he stared at Jiraya. "What do you mean, Jiraya-sama?"

"My spies in the Land of Grass have just reported that there are two more unidentified shinobi that have rendezvoused with Sui-Feng and her team near Kannabi Bridge."

"So does this mean that there are now _five_ shinobi, including this Sui-Feng, that we have to deal with?" asked Sai.

Jiraya nodded, confirming Sai's rhetorical question. "You're right." He turned to Tsunade, a grim look on his face. "So, Tsunade…"

… "What now?" asked Sasuke, unintentionally finishing Jiraya's sentence.

Tsunade sighed as she closed her eyes… "I don't know... but it doesn't change the fact that she must be stopped."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at this.

"_Does she? What if this Menma person was telling the truth and they have no intention of harming Konoha...?_" he thought to himself as he got a sinking feeling welling in his gut...

Next Time - The Artists


	15. 14: The Two Artists

**Chapter 14: The Artists**

Disclaimer: Still applies

A/N: If any of you are interested, I have a story challenge on my profile. PM me of you are interested in taking it.

* * *

[A Few Miles Outside of the Hidden Sand Village, The Shinobi World]

_Current Time..._

As Soifon and her group approached the Hidden Sand Village, the Second Division captain glanced to her left, and then to her right. "We're finally here..." she said to herself as she stared at the village that lay ahead of them.

Skidding to a halt, Soifon raised her hand, signaling for the others to stop. A confused Naruto walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder. "What are you talking about, Soifon?" he asked in a puzzled voice. "We're not even in the outskirts of the village- we still have at least half an hour to go!"

Toshiro frowned as he glanced at the desert that they were in. "Can't you sense them, Naruto?" he asked as he glanced at the distant village.

Naruto was startled when he suddenly understood what the Tenth Division captain was talking about. "Dammit… So they've already captured Gaara…?!" he whispered angrily. "Unforgivable…! I'll fucking beat the shit out of those two!" Grabbing his Zanpakuto's hilt tightly, Naruto glared at the two distant figures that were slowly approaching the group.

* * *

A long blonde-haired male of average height with slanted blue eyes and a half ponytail narrowed his eyes as he noticed a group of masked figures in the distance. "Sasori no Danna…" he said cautiously as he kept his eyes on the group.

"Yea, I know…" replied his partner in a low and hoarse voice. He, unlike his partner, was a short and hunched male with black eyes and a ragged mask that he wore over his mouth. "Stay on guard, Deidara… I don't understand why I can't sense any chakra from any of them, but it's obvious that they're extremely powerful…"

"This is a good opportunity to test my artistic skills, hm," stated Deidara, rubbing his chin as he stared blankly ahead of them in deep thought. After a few seconds, he glanced back at the defeated Gaara, who was unconscious and wrapped up in the tail of Deidara's giant clay bird. "That Ichibi's Jinchuuriki was a tough one, but I didn't have a chance to show off as much of my artistic skills as I would've liked to have…"

Sasori growled in annoyance. "Shut up," he ordered as the group ahead of them grew closer. "Get ready- they're here."

* * *

"Who might you five be?" asked Sasori in a polite yet annoyed voice. "I wasn't informed that Konoha would already be sending reinforcements over to rescue the Jinchuuriki…"

"You weren't informed…?" asked Soifon. "So you _did_ have a spy in the Hidden Sand Village after all… Most likely that sleeper cell guy within the council…"

Sasori seemed surprised by this, but his expression remained blank. _How could she have known about Yūra…?_ he wondered. "So, I'm guessing that you kids are here to rescue the Jinchuuriki…? Well, I'm afraid that that's impossible…"

Growling behind his mask, Naruto unsheathed his Zanpakuto, stabbing the blade into the ground and turning to Soifon. "There's no rules against killing these guys, right?"

Soifon grinned from behind her mask as she stared at the two figures. "Since we're here to kill them... no, there isn't."

"Wait, scratch that…" Naruto turned to face the two Akatsuki members. "I'm not gonna just kill them… I'm gonna beat the living shit out of them, and _then_ I'll kill them!"

Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Oh?" Turning to his partner, the blonde smirked as he opened and closed his only hand multiple times. "Did you hear that, Sasori no Dana? This masked artless _kid _thinks that he can take _us_ on, hm! Well then, let's see if you have what it takes, kid!"

"Be careful, Deidara…" growled Sasori. "What did I tell you before…?"

"Hah!" scoffed the blonde Akatsuki member. Stuffing his hand inside his side pouches, Deidara fed his second mouth, which was the mouth on the palm of his hand, some explosive clay. "Now…" Grinning at Naruto, he jumped on his giant clay bird, withdrawing his hand from his pouch and revealing it to Naruto and the others, much to their surprise.

"Well…" Deidara stared down at his hand as it spat out a glob of chewed up clay. Closing his hand, the blonde Akatsuki member molded and fashioned the glob of clay into five small birds with four wings in just a couple of seconds. "Let's get going, shall we? Behold… my art!"

Throwing the five clay birds into the air, Deidara made a hand seal with his only hand, and a large cloud of smoke enveloped the five clay birds. When the smoke dissipated, Naruto and the others saw that the five small clay objects had grown into five lean and skinny birds which had obviously been fashioned for speed in place of destructive power.

Narrowing his eyes, Renji slowly drew his Zanpakuto from its' sheath, shifting his feet as he prepared to attack Deidara. "Naruto…"

"Yeah…" Glancing sideways at Soifon, Naruto signaled for her and the others minus Renji to direct their attention onto him. "Renji and I will handle the blondie," he stated as he yanked his Zanpakuto from the ground. "You, Ichigo, and Toshiro handle puppet boy over there."

Sasori looked shocked by this, and Naruto grinned at him from behind his mask. "Yeah, we know that you're inside a puppet and have many more besides that… Don't be so surprised." Turning back to Deidara, he suddenly seemed to disappear as he used flash step, appearing in front of the shocked Akatsuki member and slashing at him.

Bending backwards, Deidara was barely able to avoid the blade as it passed a millimeter over his nose. _Che! He's fast…!_ Glancing at his clay birds, he beckoned to them with his index and middle finger, skillfully executing a backflip and landing on the ground below.

The giant bird holding Gaara suddenly shot up into the air, speeding away with the barely alive Kazekage and stopping over a hundred yards away from where the group was at, remaining in mid-air. Naruto quickly spun around as the five clay birds sped towards him with surprising speed. Twisting over, the blonde Shinigami slammed his Zanpakuto down onto one of them, using flash step right after to get out of the explosive bird's range.

The other four birds turned around and sped towards Naruto, but then they suddenly curved and sped towards the unsuspecting Renji instead, swelling up as they hinted that they were about to explode.

"RENJI, GET OUT OF THERE!" yelled Naruto in a frantic voice.

Renji's eyes widened in shock as he crouched into the air, propelling himself backwards with his legs as he didn't have enough time to flash step away. The explosion, however, was still too large, and the vice-captain was send flying over twenty feet backwards by the force of the explosion before he skidded to a stop.

"Che!" Naruto angrily flash stepped to Deidara's side, swinging his Zanpakuto at him once more with furious strength. "Die, you piece of shit!" roared Naruto as he swung his sword at him. "I'm taking Gaara back no matter what!"

Chuckling, Deidara held up his hand, forming his hand into a hand seal as his eyes widened, a hint of annoyance in them. "Don't underestimate me, kid!"

Naruto's eyes widened as his sword cut into the blonde Akatsuki member, a huge glob of clay enveloping his sword and trapping it. "Hahahaha!" laughed Deidara manically. "Behold my art, hm! KATSU!"

THUD! Renji, who had arrived back at the fight scene, looked on in disbelief as Deidara's clay clone exploded, Naruto next to it. "NARUTO!"

"Stop freaking out, Renji!"

Renji's head snapped to the right as he saw Naruto standing next to him. "Thank goodness; for a moment I thought that bastard got you!"

Naruto grimaced as he glared at Deidara. _I need to calm myself down… I'm just blindly attacking him right now, and I'll never defeat him like that…! Well, actually, I could pretty easily, but it's still not the way to do this…! Calm down, Naruto…!_ Taking a deep breath, Naruto flash stepped to Deidara's blind spot, raising his hand waist-length and pointing his finger at him. "**Hadō #1: Shō **(Thrust)."

Deidara spun around, but it was too late. He went flying over ten feet as an invisible force slammed into him, making him feel as though he had been kicked in the chest extremely hard._W-What kind of Ninjutsu is this?!_ wondered the confused blond Akatsuki member. _This little masked guy is annoying me, hm…!_ Raising his hand, Deidara beckoned at the ground with his index and middle finger.

A big clay centipede over fifteen feet long shot out from the ground behind Naruto, wrapping around him and binding him in its grasp. Naruto sighed in exasperation as he lightly tugged against his binds. "So, is this supposed to keep me bound or something?"

Deidara grinned widely as he made a hand seal with his single hand. "No… It's supposed to do _this_! KATSU!"

Renji's eyes widened in shock as Naruto and the clay centipede exploded, large chunks of rubble flying everywhere. "N-NARUTO!" screamed the vice-captain.

"I thought I already told to stop freaking out like that, Tattoo-Brows!" scolded a voice behind him.

Renji spun around to find Naruto standing calmly behind him, an even look on his face. "N-Naruto…" he stuttered.

"It's called a flash step, dumbass," said Naruto in a dead tone. "I just broke free and flash stepped away at the moment of the explosion. It might not seem like it, but Shunpo is actually a little bit faster than ninja's Body Flicker Jutsu." Looking down at his burned sleeve, Naruto frowned. "Just a little bit…"

Deidara looked shocked at the fact that Naruto was able to escape the explosion. "Che! So you're fast too, huh? This is getting even more annoying, hm!" Reaching into his side pouch, the Akatsuki member readied some explosive clay for another attempt at the two Shinigamis.

"Now, let's see if this works…" Slowly pulling out his hand, Deidara narrowed his eyes as he studied Naruto and Renji. "Why don't we go with the C2 Dragon…?"

* * *

_With Ichigo, Hitsugaya, and Soifon..._

Soifon easily sidestepped Sasori's attack, the giant scorpion-like tail stabbing into the sandy ground below. "Nice try, puppet boy!" she grinned. "Your attacks are too slow! Why don't you try attacking me with your _real_ self?"

Sasori growled as he withdrew his tail, glaring at the Soifon, Ichigo, and Hitsugaya through his narrowed bloodshot eyes. "I see…" His tail suddenly snapped towards the right at Hitsugaya, who simply blocked the attack with his unsheathed Zanpakuto. The scorpion-like tail then curved towards Ichigo, who sidestepped the attack and stabbed down at it with his Zanpakuto, shattering the tail with only mild difficulty. "Che…!" scoffed Sasori. "So all three of you are extremely skilled I see… Then let's see if you can dodge this!"

Pulling off his tattered mask from his mouth, the hunched Akatsuki member revealed his "mouth," which snapped open and shot out a barrage of needles at the three Shinigamis.

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes as he held his Zanpakuto above his head. "**Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyōrinmaru **(Ice Ring)!"

A giant dragon of ice emerged from the tip of the blade, roaring as it collided with the barrage of needles, freezing and halting every single one of them. Sasori scoffed as his attack was stopped, and Ichigo and the others looked on in mild surprise as the puppet straightened up, the cloak ripping in half to reveal a giant red mask attached to his mask.

"W-What's that thing?" asked Ichigo rhetorically, holding his Zanpakuto out and bracing himself for an incoming attack.

The giant mask suddenly shattered into thousands of little pieces, surprising even Soifon. A cloaked figure with a black sack over his head of average height slowly emerged from the now-empty shell of the puppet, straightening up and unmasking himself to reveal a red-haired male who seemed to be in his mid-twenties with brown eyes that held a dead look inside of them.

Soifon grinned at this. "So you've finally shown yourself… Sasori of the Red Sand."

Slowly reaching into his cloak, Sasori pulled out a scroll, unrolling it and holding it out in front of him. The number "three" was written on the scroll.

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on his sword. "Three…?"

"This is my favorite puppet," stated Sasori as the edges of the scroll and the number "three" began to glow purple. "Consider yourselves lucky that I deemed you three dangerous enough to use this on." A cloud of smoke leaked out of the scroll, enveloping the red-haired Akatsuki member in it. "It took me quite a while to 'catch' this puppet… But then again, that's why he's my favorite."

When the smoke cleared up, Sasori was seen with a dark blue-purple-haired figure with dark skin and amber eyes. It was dressed in a black cloak with a high fur collar, and it gave off a menacing glare that warned the three Shinigamis that this was a puppet on a whole new different league from the one that Sasori had been hiding inside of.

"Behold… the Third Kazekage." Sasori suddenly gave the three a taunting smile, which seemed unusual for someone with a dead personality like himself. "I hope that you three are ready," he said as his fingers suddenly turned into a blur of movements. The puppet's jaw snapped open, and a large quantity of grey sand leaked out from its' mouth. "This isn't going to be anything like the last puppet that you guys fought against… If you don't come at me seriously… you'll die and end up as part of my collection."

Soifon narrowed her eyes, grinning menacingly as she shifted her feet, preparing herself. _He's underestimating us… Heh, what a joke…_

* * *

Deidara clenched his jaw in frustration as he landed on the ground with a loud "thud." Picking himself off of the ground, he used his teeth to pull off the tattered cloak that had been ruined by Naruto's Kido spell, which he was still convinced was some sort of unusual yet extremely powerful Ninjutsu.

_These guys…_ The blonde Akatsuki member narrowed his eyes as he glared at Naruto and Renji._They're strong, and yet there's nothing artistic about their movements or attacks…! How shameful, hm!_ Taking his eyes off of the two Shinigamis for a brief moment, he glanced over at his C2 Dragon, which had been blown apart by the Renji's Kido spell. _It looks like I may have to end up using __**it **__after all…! Well then, let's see here…_

Looking down at his side pouch, he scoffed silently to himself as he grabbed the last fistful of clay that was left, feeding it to his mouth second mouth on the palm of his hand. _I only have enough clay for one last attack…! I have to make this count…!_

"Almost out of your precious clay?" asked Naruto in a taunting voice, noticing Deidara frowning as he looked down at his side pouch. "It must suck to know that the reason that you're about to lose is because you're out of _clay_!"

Deidara growled as he glared at Naruto, a look of hatred in his single visible eye. "… Shut up, you stupid masked brat!" he spat angrily. "You'll regret saying that to me!" Pulling out his hand from his side pouch, Deidara molded the chewed up clay into ten small birds with six wings each, three on each side. _These are the fastest birds that I have…! Even with their surprising speed, they won't be able to completely avoid these…!_

Chucking the birds at Naruto and Renji, Deidara formed a hand seal with his hand, causing the birds to come to life with a poof of smoke. "Let's see you guys dodge this!" he laughed maniacally.

Naruto and Renji looked shocked as they flash stepped back a few feet, narrowly avoiding the ten extremely fast birds. _Th-These birds…!_ Naruto exclaimed in his head. _They're even faster than the first ones he threw at us…! Even with our flash step, we won't be able to outrun them for a long period of time with these cloaks restricting our powers- especially Renji! Even if Renji's an expert-level shunpo user he'll only last a few minutes at the most. I have to take care of them by then!_ Turning to Renji, Naruto gave him a nod.

Nodding back, Renji held out his blade as he jumped into the air, spinning around while remaining balanced in mid-air in order to avoid a bird that came speeding at him. "**Howl, Zabimaru **(Snake Tail)!" cried Renji as he whipped his new transformed Zanpakuto at the unsuspecting bird.

BOOM! The explosion surprised Deidara, whose head snapped around to face the direction that Renji was in. "W-What the hell is that weapon?!" he exclaimed in a shocked yet hysterical tone. "Just what the hell are you guys?!"

Landing on the ground, Renji glared at Deidara as he swung his six-part segmented sword at the blonde Akatsuki member.

"It doesn't matter if I explained it to you or not... because it's all over for you, you blonde bastard!"

Deidara easily dodged the relatively moderate speed attack, but as he spun around in mid-air, his eyes widened in shock as they caught Naruto dispatching the other nine birds with a series of high-speed flash steps. What he _didn't_ know was that Naruto used Kurama's reiatsu to augment his speed to the point where he could easily outrun the birds.

"Che!" Deidara landed on the ground and spat at the ground, his eyes flaring in anger and hatred. "Let's see if you can stop _this_!" he yelled, speeding towards his giant bird that held a still-unconscious Gaara hostage.

Just as he reached the bird, however, Naruto appeared in front of him, kicking him into the ground below. "Too slow, Deidara!" exclaimed Naruto as he landed on the ground next to the blonde Akatsuki member. "It's over… You have nowhere else to run, Deidara."

Narrowing his eyes, Deidara swallowed the piece of clay that he had managed to snag before Naruto had kicked him. Gulping the clay down, Deidara grinned, staying perfectly still as his body began to bloat up, much to Naruto's surprise.

Renji appeared next to Naruto and looked at Deidara with a questioning look on his face. "W-What the hell's going on over here…?" asked Renji, turning to look at Naruto.

"It beats me," replied Naruto in an even tone.

… _"It's a bomb, idiot!" exclaimed Kurama in a scolding tone. "He's about to blow himself up! Get out of here now!"_

Naruto's eyes widened at this, and Deidara's grin grew even wider as his body bloated up so that he resembled a giant black blob. "Behold my ultimate art!" he exclaimed joyously.

_Dammit!_ Spinning around on his heel, Naruto grabbed a surprised Renji by the collar of his cloak. Deidara saw this, and his eyes widened in anger. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" he yelled angrily.

Grimacing, Naruto crouched down slightly, getting ready to flash step away.

"KATSU!"

Naruto quickly flash stepped away a millisecond before Deidara exploded, the force of the explosion causing large chunks of rocks to fly everywhere.

"Whew," sighed Naruto as he and Renji appeared over fifty feet away from the explosion. "That was a close one."

Renji fell slump on the ground, his eyes wide as he took huge gulps of air. "Th-Thanks a lot, Naruto," he said before taking another huge gulp of air. "I owe you one."

Naruto's head suddenly snapped around to face the direction that Soifon and the others were in.

"Now all that's left is _that_ guy."

* * *

Sasori narrowed his eyes as he saw Deidara exploding out of the corner of his eyes. _Che! So that idiot managed to escape by using a Self-Destructing Clone as a diversion, huh…?_ Staring at the three Shinigamis through narrowed eyes, Sasori opened and closed his hand multiple times as he thought about what to do next.

Soifon, Ichigo, and Hitsugaya had managed to deal with the puppet of the Third Kazekage despite its' Iron Sand causing quite a bit of problem. The hardened sand was even able to shape itself into multiple weapons, and through **Jiton: Iron Sand World Method**, Sasori had even managed to wound Ichigo and the other two, although Soifon had easily extracted the poison through an unknown way. Forced into a corner because of Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru freezing his entire supply of Iron Sand, Sasori was forced to reveal his most powerful puppet- himself. He revealed that he had turned himself into a puppet, although his only weak spot was the core in his chest that held his beating heart.

Even though he had revealed his Red Secret Jutsu: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, between the power of Ichigo's **Getsuga Tensho** and Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru Sasori's once great puppet army of a hundred strong had been reduced to only five puppets.

Soifon quickly used flash step to appear behind a motionless puppet wielding a giant axe, dispatching it by locking its head between her legs and snapping it off, smashing its arms into pieces as well. Ichigo swung his sword at another two puppets with both hands, generating a giant blue crescent slash from the tip of his sword that completely obliterated the two puppets. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, chose to flick the tip of his blade at the last remaining puppet that came speeding at him, freezing it from the neck down within an instant. The puppet fell down to the ground below and smashed into pieces, the only intact part of it being its head.

Sheathing her Zanpakuto, Soifon turned to face a mildly surprised Sasori. "There's nothing else that you can you, Sasori," she said. "I _would_ tell you to stand down, but I'll kill you even if you do. Come on." She beckoned at him with her hand. "I'll allow you to try one last pathetic attempt at trying to stop even one of us."

Sasori bowed his head, remaining still as a soft gust of wind blew through the area.

His fingers suddenly twitched, and two puppets that were no less than three feet away from Soifon, a male and female by the looks of it, suddenly sprang to life and sped towards Soifon with surprising speed.

Soifon's eyes widened at this, but because of her cockiness, as well as thinking that none of the puppets were intact enough to attack, she was unable to dodge the attack in time. All she could do was wait for the two blades to plunge into her chest.

"SOIFON!"

Naruto, on the other hand, had seen this, and he quickly activated Kurama's Shroud, speeding across the area in a blink of an eye and slamming his foot into Sasori's back, sending him flying across the area in a shocking speed.

Sasori slammed into Soifon and sent her flying a couple feet back, but he himself had taken the blow in her place, and he stood motionless, his head still bowed and the two swords sticking out of his chest.

Soifon quickly leapt up to her feet and stared at Sasori in shock. The two puppets were draped around him as if they were embracing him, and the two blades sticking out of his chest had managed to pierce his core, the only human part of his body.

_H-He almost killed me…_ thought Soifon to herself in shock. _If it hadn't been for Naruto, then I really might have died…!_

"I guess that's I owe you one again, Naruto," said Soifon to which Naruto waved off.

"Just try to be a little less arrogant from now on. Your cockiness _has_ always been your biggest weakness, Soifon," said Naruto in a teasing yet serious tone. "You should really work on that part of you... especially when it comes to dealing with the shinobi."

The five Shinigamis who had just appeared where they were at, suddenly turned to look at Sasori as they heard him mumbling something. He then fell forward, the two puppets falling with him.

…

"Come to think of it, do those two puppets kind of look like a mom and dad, or is it just me?" said Naruto as he stared curiously at the three puppet bodies.

… "Who knows," said Soifon in a tired voice. "Anyways, weren't you supposed to rescue Gaara?"

Naruto's eyes widened at this before he quickly flash stepped away to where Deidara's giant bird was at. Quickly ripping off its head, Naruto yanked Gaara out of the bird's wrapped up tail and propelled himself off of the bird's body with his legs in time to escape the explosion.

Landing safely on the ground, Naruto bent over Gaara's unconscious body, the rest of the group appearing around him. "How is he?" asked Renji in a slightly worried tone. "He looks really pale…"

"It's alright," replied Naruto. "I-."

"GAARA!"

Naruto and the other turned around to see two figures running towards them. The figure on the left was a male wearing a black baggy full body suit with a black hood and a painted face. The figure on the right was a female with a short-sleeved black kimono and a red sash around her waist. She wore fingerless black gloves, and she had blonde hair gathered into four short ponytails in the back and green eyes.

Naruto, recognizing the figures, was surprised to see them and silently thanked the stars that he had his Kido mask on. "It's alright," he said before the two figures could speak. "He's doing fine." Placing his hands over Gaara, Naruto began to heal him, trying to remain calm despite what he had just said. _His injuries look almost fatal, but then again, I still have a lot to learn about medical Kido and all that other stuff…_

* * *

After ten long minutes, Naruto withdrew his hands, sighing in relief as he slowly stood up. "He's still unconscious, but he'll be fine. He should wake up within the hour."

Sighing in relief as well, the two figures gave Naruto a relieved smile. "Thank you, stranger," said the female figure, extending her hand. "My name is Temari, Gaara's sister."

"I'm Kankuro," said the male figure. "Gaara's brother."

Shaking both Temari and Kankuro's hand, Naruto nodded. "I kno-… I mean, it's nice to meet you two."

Looking around the devastated area, Kankuro narrowed his eyes as he saw Sasori's dead body. "So this is what he really looked like…"

"Menma," said Soifon. "Let's withdraw for now." Turning to Temari and Kankuro, she gave them a curt nod. "My apologies, but it's unsafe to stay here, no matter who you two really are."

Nodding, Naruto slowly backed away. "It was nice to meet you two," he repeated. "… Farewell."

And with that, Naruto and the others flash stepped away, leaving only a wisp of wind in their place.

* * *

[Unknown Location]

_Sometime Later..._

Inside of a large and mostly empty cave, eight figures stood on each finger of a giant humanoid statue that sat in the middle of the cave.

"So, Sui-Feng has returned once again, and with a team of her own no less, is that right?" said a figure with a spiraled orange mask.

Deidara nodded, confirming the statement. "That's right. Sasori no Dana was killed by her and her four comrades… How embarrassing, hm!"

"Don't underestimate her," warned the masked figure. "She could easily handle any one of us… Be on guard at all times from now on."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" said a figure with slicked back silver hair and purple eyes. "You finally reveal yourself, and you're more of a pussy than any of us!"

"No one can defeat Madara Uchiha," said the now-revealed Madara through narrowed eyes. "It's just a precaution, especially since we are still without a single Biju thanks to her two teammates… Listen well,all of you... As of now, we of the Akatsuki are now Sui-Feng's targets."

Next Time - The Den of White Downfall


	16. 15: The Den of the White Snake

**Chapter 15: The Den of the White Snake**

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[The Hokage's Office, Konoha, The Shinobi World]

_Three days after the rescue of the Kazekage…_

Tsunade frowned as she listened to her assistant Shizune read the report out loud that had just been delivered by the Sunagakure on the rescue of the Kazekage, Gaara. According to the report, Soifon and her team had ended up rescuing Gaara while killing the two Akatsuki members, Sasori and supposedly Deidara, in the process.

After Shizune finished reading the last sentence, Tsunade's frown grew even more distinct as she mused over the report. _Hmmm… Well, that Temari and Kankuro wouldn't have known about the little "battle" between Sui-Feng and her team and Sasuke's, but then again, even if they _**_had_**_, they wouldn't have been able to recognize her… It's no surprise that they didn't try to stop her considering the fact that she and her team saved Gaara's life…_

She suddenly noticed Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai, which was temporarily being led by Jiraya since Kurenai had been confirmed pregnant earlier the day before, standing at attention a few feet away from her desk. Noticing that Sai had something on his mind, she signaled for him to come forward.

Stepping forward, Sai opened his mouth to speak. "So Hokage-sama, does this mean that Sui-Feng and her team are going to go after the Akatsuki?"

"It's more than likely," replied the Hokage.

"So…" Tsunade looked up at Kakashi, who had just spoken. "What do you plan to do about this, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, I had sent a request to the Five Kages a few days ago to request for a Five Kage Summit at the Land of Iron to address the issue," explained Tsunade. "The meeting is to take place approximetly ten days after we receive all Five Kage's approval; all we need now is the Hidden Mists' Mizukage Yagura to agree to it."

Looking around at everyone to see whether or not her explanation had sunk in or not, Tsunade continued. "Be warned... until this meeting has ended, and a decision on how to deal with this situation has been made, you're not to going after Sui-Feng or the known members of her team. You are only to engage her or her team should you happen to come across them by chance. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, signaling that they understood.

Nodding as well, Tsunade looked down at an unrolled scroll that was lying in front of her on her desk. "Now, Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai, here is your mission. You eight are to travel all the way to the Land of Grass and infiltrate a newly discovered underground complex that appears to be one of Orochimaru's active hideouts."

Sasuke and Sakura seemed visibly angered by this, with Sakura clenching her fists as she remembered how he had been the reason why Naruto was gone.

After a moment of brief silence, which allowed the members of Team 7 to calm down, Tsunade continued. "Your main objective is to find as much, if any, intel as possible regarding Orochimaru and the whereabouts of Naruto while capturing or killing Orochimaru if you eight should happen to cross paths with him during your mission."

"We accept this mission," stated Sasuke and Sakura right away, the rest of the two teams following suit right after.

Kiba sighed at this, his hands clasped together behind his back as he took up his normally relaxed position. "So, another hideout of Orochimaru's to infiltrate, huh? This is gonna be a big pain in the ass…"

"You're starting to sound like Shikamaru, Kiba," said Shino in his usual hushed yet dead voice. "Why is this? It's because Shikamaru always states that everything is a bothersome, and you-."

"Alright already!" growled Kiba in an annoyed tone. "Just saying that I sounded like Shikamaru would've been enough, Shino!"

_S-So we get another chance t-to find out where N-Naruto-kun is!_ said Hinata to herself mentally. _Naruto-kun, we'll find you no matter what!_

* * *

[The Land of Grass, The Shinobi World]

_A few days later…_

Naruto, Ichigo, and Toshio landed on the ground in crouched positions next to a large boulder that was lying in front of a meadow. Soifon and Renji were headed for the border between the Lands of Lightning and Frost in order to meet up with one of Soifon's various contacts, while Naruto's group was headed towards the Land of Grass in order to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout and dispatch him, them having learned of his location from yet another of Soifon's spies and the reason for the mission being that Orochimaru had been affiliated with the Akatsuki and was therefore a target along with his right-hand man, Yakushi Kabuto.

Ichigo frowned as he looked up at the slowly darkening afternoon sky, the grass in the meadow dancing along with the rhythm of the breeze. "So Naruto," he started, "how is this Yagura guy in any danger if he's just being controlled by Genjutsu?"

Naruto blinked from behind his mask as he pulled his hood over his head even more. "The Genjutsu itself isn't the problem," he replied quietly. "The real problem is that the person casting the Genjutsu is the leader of the Akatsuki."

Ichigo waited for Naruto to continue, but the blonde Shinigami was too busy thinking of the events that had occurred over the past few days.

* * *

_After fighting Deidara and Sasori, the group of Shinigamis had made a beeline to the Land of Water where they infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village two days earlier and, without being detected, released the Mizukage Yagura, the Sanbi's (the Three-Tail's) Jinchuuriki, from a mysterious Genjutsu that someone, possibly from the Akatsuki, had been using to manipulate the Mizukage, having turned him into a cruel and vicious tyrant._

_Naruto and his team left the Hidden Mist the following day before any of the Hidden Mist shinobis could catch onto them. Before they did so, however, they had learned that Yagura had finally woken up (he had fallen unconscious when the jutsu was released), and it was revealed that he had absolutely no memory of what had happened since he became the Mizukage as well as the horrible things that he had did. After learning the details from one of his advisors, he immediately resigned from his position as the Mizukage the same morning that Naruto and his group left, passing on the title to a young woman named Mei Terumi._

* * *

As Naruto and his group ran through the dense forest that had been lying across the meadow, Hitsugaya turned to look at Naruto, who had been quietly running without a peep. "Naruto, there's something that I've wanted to ask you for a while if that's alright with you."

"What is it?"

Hitsugaya remained silent for a still second before asking the question. "What did think of your friends back in the Hidden Leaf Village?"

Ichigo looked confused by this. "What do you mean by that, Toshiro?"

"I was asking for a gauge on their strength," replied the white-haired captain.

Naruto sighed as he mused on this question for a brief minute. "Well, I can't really say… Soifon defeated most of them before they could use their full power, and Sasuke and Sakura and their new teammate were most definitely holding back their full power in their battle with Ichigo- most likely to prevent any collateral damage to Konoha."

Hitsugaya seemed surprised by this, and he turned to Ichigo, giving him a questioning look. "Well, Ichigo? Is this true?"

Ichigo frowned for a second before answering. "Well, to be honest, I expected their attacks to be much stronger than they were. They felt pretty weak to me, especially with that Sasuke guy. I'm guessing that if that Sasuke and I used our full strength, I would've ended up with more than a single strand of my hair cut off, heh."

A few hours later, the group arrived at the hideout, which was located in the middle of a rocky wasteland. Naruto, observing the area, turned to Ichigo and motioned for him to stay put. "You stay here and guard the entrance, Ichigo."

Ichigo opened his mouth to protest, but Naruto raised his hand, stopping him. "It's obviously going to be a sealed up space, and you definitely can't use your Zanpakuto in either its Shikai or sealed state. Also, _someone_ has to keep that white-skinned sack of shit's other uninvited guests out."

Sighing, Ichigo slapped his forehead, finally relenting. "Alright, alright…"

Grinning from behind his mask, Naruto clapped his hands together. "If it looks like your opponents are stronger than they were last time, you can take off your cloak. Also, I know that you know this, but… don't use that form unless you're less than an inch away from death."

Nodding, Ichigo frowned from behind his mask. "I know…"

Nodding back, Naruto turned to the hidden entrance and placed his finger on it. "**Hadō #1: Shō **(Thrust)!"

Creating a fist-sized hole in the ground, which was in-fact the hidden entrance, Naruto enlarged it by ripping off giant pieces of rock with his bare hands. Turning to Hitsugaya, Naruto nodded and jumped down the hole, landing safely on the ground below.

"Take care of the entrance, Ichigo," said Hitsugaya, and with that, he jumped down the hole as well.

Sighing in frustration, Ichigo flash stepped on top of the giant boulder that lied on top of the hideout and sat down on it, waiting for the slowly approaching opponents.

* * *

Naruto and Hitsugaya glanced around the area, which was a very long and slightly narrow hallway that was lit by multiple torches that had been stabbed into the walls. "Hmmm… It seems like this hallway could go on forever," observed Hitsugaya.

Naruto remained still as he looked down at the ground, and after a moment of stillness, he started walking alongside the right side of the hallway, softly tapping on the wall with his knuckle. After a couple of feet, he stopped and stepped back. Hitsugaya looked at him questioningly, and his eyes widened in surprise when Naruto leaned back, drawing back his leg and kicking the wall, completely obliterating that portion of the wall.

Stepping through the hole right away, Naruto left Hitsugaya scratching the back of his head in bewilderment. "Naruto… He must really be pissed off right now…"

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

A long black-haired figure with deathly white skin and another figure with ash-grey hair tied back into a short ponytail looked up from their spot in a dimly lit room at a distant rumbling sound that came from the other side of the hideout.

The ash-grey-haired figure's eyes narrowed from behind his black rimmed circular glasses. "Orochimaru-sama…"

"I know," replied the black-haired figure with a sickly grin. "It seems that we have guests, Kabuto-kun… I wonder… Could it be Sasuke-kun…?"

Frowning, Kabuto closed his eyes as he focused on the vibe and feeling that was leaking through the walls. "Hmmm… This angry feeling certainly does fit him, but can you feel it, Orochimaru-sama…? The air is getting cold at an extremely fast rate…"

Orochimaru nodded, agreeing with his henchman. "I was also wondering about that as well… It must be a new guest…" Slowly getting up from his seat, he walked towards the entrance of the room, grinning in anticipation as to who the powerful sources of energy belonged to. "Let's go greet them, Kabuto."

Kabuto nodded, standing up from his seat and following his master out the door.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

Naruto looked around as he and Hitsugaya finally walked into a large empty chamber hoisted up by four large pillars of stone. Before Naruto could take another step, Hitsugaya reached out and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "Naruto…"

Glancing back at the young captain over his shoulder, Naruto blinked as he realized why he had stopped him. "They're here…" he whispered, and he felt his blood starting to boil as he turned around to face two figures that stepped out from behind the shadows.

The two figures, a long black-haired figure and a slightly smaller figure with ash-grey hair, grinned as they came into the light, revealing their faces to the two intruders. "My my, I don't seem to recognize them," stated the latter as he stared at the two curiously.

"Heh…" The pale figure on the left grinned as he let his arms hang limply by his side. "I expected Sasuke-kun and maybe a few of those pesky Konoha shinobis, but it seems that I was mistaken."

Naruto growled from behind his mask as he grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto, drawing it out halfway as he released a massive amount of reiatsu that even surprised the two figures.

"Orochimaru…"

Next Time - The White Snake's Downfall


	17. 16: The White Snake's Downfall

**Chapter 16: The White Snake's Downfall**

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass]

_Current Time..._

"Orochimaru…"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow as he heard his name. "Your presence seems strangely familiar, but I can't recall meeting you… Judging by your hostility towards me… Have we perhaps met somewhere…?"

"Oh?" Naruto seemed amused by this. "So you can't recall who I am after all…? Well, I figured as much… Don't worry- it'll become obvious who I am sooner or later."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes as he studied Orochimaru silently. _So this is the monster who was responsible for the events that led to Naruto's death as well as almost turning his friend Sasuke against him and Konoha… His sickly pale skin… Even the way he lips his lips in anticipation with that creepy long tongue of his… This man is truly not human after all…_

"So, if I may ask- what are you two doing here?" asked Kabuto, suddenly breaking the cold silence. "It's quite obvious that you've come to try and kill Orochimaru-sama, but-… Wait a minute…" Frowning, Kabuto turned to his master. "Orochimaru-sama, the reports on the strange group of figures that had just recently attacked Konoha…"

Orochimaru nodded, an annoyed expression appearing on his face as he stared hard at the two Shinigami. "It seems like it… So, I take you two are part of that group, am I correct?"

Tilting his head, Toshiro gave the enemy duo a strange grin. "Who knows?"

"Since you're going to die here anyway, Orochimaru, I'll show you my face beforehand," said Naruto quietly. "Remember it well- the person who's going to kill you!" Reaching for his mask, the blonde Shinigami casually pulled back his hood and removed his mask, undoing the Kido spell that had changed his voice as well as his hair color.

When Orochimaru and Kabuto saw his face, the expressions on their faces were ones that Naruto would have loved to cherish if it wasn't for the fact that all he could think about was killing them. The expression of pure shock mixed with a slight hint of horror. It was the expression of one that looked like they had seen a ghost of their past; the expression of one who knew that something inevitable was about to happen... and that it wasn't going to be good for them.

"Th-This is impossible…" whispered Kabuto, his eyes wide with shock. "Naruto-kun…? Just what the hell is going on here…?"

"T-The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki…" whispered Orochimaru, a strange mix of shock and excitement in his quiet and raspy voice.

"Orochimaru… I've come to take your life," stated Naruto, unsheathing his Zanpakuto. "I'll make sure that you can never hurt Sasuke or Konoha ever again, you white snake bastard…!" Raising his Zanpakuto into the air, Naruto's eyes began to glow yellow-white as he was enveloped in a shroud of glowing reiatsu. "**Open the floodgates, Kamikaze**!"

A roaring noise filled the large chamber as a giant gust of overwhelming reiatsu threatened to bring the whole room crashing down. Orochimaru and Kabuto seemed shocked by this, and as the noise and wind calmed down, Naruto glanced over at Hitsugaya. "Toshiro, let me handle Orochimaru. You take care of the four-eyed traitor."

Hitsugaya nodded, remaining silent. "Sure thing."_ I probably shouldn't argue with Naruto while he's in this mood; after all, the only two people that are more frightening than him are Unohana and Kushina._

Rolling his neck in anticipation to get this battle over this, Hitsugaya used flash step to appear in front of a surprised Kabuto, grabbing his neck right after and streaking across the area with Orochimaru's henchman in his grip.

Once they reached another similar chamber, Hitsugaya threw Kabuto across the room, the four-eyed shinobi slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the room with a grunt. _Well, at least I know that he's not fast,_ said Hitsugaya to himself mentally. _I can definitely use that to my advantage._

"Heh…" Kabuto chuckled quietly to himself as he slowly got up from the small pile of rubble that he was sitting on. "So, it looks like I'm up against a little kid, huh? How hilarious…"

The corner of Hitsugaya's mouth twitched at this, and he slowly unsheathed his Zanpakuto, a look of quiet annoyance on his face. "I'm not a kid, four-eyes! **Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyōrinmaru **(Ice Ring)!"

Kabuto shielded his face with his arm as an icy gust of wind blew across the chamber, the slightly chilled hair growing even colder. His eyes widened as a very thin lair of ice suddenly appeared on his skin, expanding until it threatened to freeze his whole right arm. _W-What is this power…?!_ he wondered, astonished at the massive reiatsu that Hitsugaya had just released. _And what is Hyōrinmaru…?_

"So…" Kabuto gathered chakra around his left hand and swung it over his frozen right arm, breaking through the thin layer of ice that coated his right arm. "This is certainly an interesting Ninjutsu that you're using… I'm guessing that this is your Kekkei Genkai…?"

Hitsugaya blinked. "What? You think I'm using a Kekkei Genkai? That's hardly the case. This- he raised his Zanpakuto- is my Zanpakuto, Hyōrinmaru. With it, I can manipulate the water in the air, turning it into ice and using it as I see fit. Don't worry, four-eyes… This battle will be over in a blink of an eye." Swinging his Zanpakuto across the air, Hitsugaya generated a large wave of ice that sped towards a surprised Kabuto.

Generating a thin coating of chakra around his right hand as well, Kabuto performed a flip over the wave of ice, slashing at it with his right hand as he passed over it. The attack, however, only managed to slice through half of it, much to Kabuto's surprise. _So this isn't just ice after all… He must have powered it up with his chakra or something…_

Using flash step to appear in front of Kabuto, he caught him off guard and swung his sword at him, intending to cut him from the chest down. Kabuto, however, saw this out of the corner of his eyes and blocked the attack at the last second with his chakra-enhanced hands. The chakra coating did almost nothing as protection, but it managed to prevent his hands from being sliced off completely.

Grimacing in pain, Kabuto held back an urge to yell out loud and placed his bleeding right hand over his left hand, activating his medical Ninjutsu and healing both hands simultaneously.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened at this, and he quickly sped towards Kabuto, generating a giant ice dragon that roared as he flew towards the four-eyed medic-nin. _So Naruto and Soifon weren't kidding when they said that ninjas could also use healing techniques as well… This guy… I'm no healing Kido expert, but his skills show that he could become a good of a healer as Unohana…! Too bad he won't get the chance to live long enough to hone his skills…!_

Kabuto, who was too busy healing both of his hands, failed to notice the ice dragon in time and was only able to leap back, unable to use his hands due to their injuries. The dragon of ice plummeted into the ground below, only managing to graze Kabuto's side in the process. Kabuto winced in pain as he was sent flying towards the opposite end of the chamber, slamming into the wall with a loud "thud!"

_D-Dammit…!_ Kabuto swore mentally as he rushed at Hitsugaya, clasping his hands behind his back. _My hands are almost completely healed, but I won't let him know that!_ Pretending to still be injured, Kabuto faked a grimace as he executed a roundabout kick at the young captain, still not using his hands.

Hitsugaya narrowly avoided the kick and, to the surprise of Kabuto, pointed his finger at him. "**Hadō #4: Byakurai **(Pale Lightening)!" Discharging a stream of light blue lightning from his fingertip, Hitsugaya grinned as he hit the Iryo-nin point blank in the stomach.

"Gah-…. AHHHHH!" yelled Kabuto as the stream of lightning pierced his stomach. Slamming into the ground below, he looked down at the hole in his stomach, gasping for air as blood poured from his wound. Getting on his hands and knees, he suddenly froze in mid-crawl as he felt something sharp and cold pressing against his chin.

Slowly looking up, Kabuto saw Hitsugaya standing over him, the point of his blade pressed against his chin. "You're finished, four-eyes," said Hitsugaya calmly. "You can't use your hands, and you can't move around easily with that hole in your stomach… Just-." He suddenly stopped talking as he noticed that Kabuto was crawling using his hands and feet. "W-Wait a second, I thought that your hand was-!"

"Gaaah!" Hitsugaya suddenly cried out in pain as Kabuto swiftly slashed at Hitsugaya's chest with his chakra-coated hands, getting a clean hit on him.

He fell on the ground with a soft "thud," gingerly touching the wound on his chest with his index and middle finger. "Che! It looks like you fooled me. I am surprised that you were able to heal your wounds so quickly while both of your hands were injured though… It looks like you're even more skilled than I thought."

"Why thank you," grinned Kabuto. Slowly approaching the injured captain cautiously, Kabuto pulled out a scalpel from his pocket and held it upside down as if it was a kunai. "Well, this is the end of the line for you I'm afraid." Holding the scalpel high above his head, Kabuto gave Hitsugaya a farewell grin. "See you, kid."

Clenching his jaw in frustration, Hitsugaya suddenly whipped his Zanpakuto out in front of him, catching Kabuto in the jaw. Reeling back in pain, Kabuto gently touched the scratch on his jaw, glaring at the 10th Division captain in anger. "So you can still fight with that wound, huh?"

"Che!" Hitsugaya slowly got up with little struggle, scoffing at Kabuto as though he had just said something ridiculous. "'This wound?' It's barely a scratch, nonetheless a wound… Don't underestimate me, four-eyes! I took half a step back at the last moment, dodging a good portion of the range of your attack."

"I see…" Kabuto's hand suddenly flashed out in front of him, the scalpel flying out of his hand and speeding towards Hitsugaya's face.

Raising his Zanpakuto with his wrist in an upwards motion, Hitsugaya froze the scalpel with a chilling breeze. The scalpel froze in midair and dropped down on the ground, landing besides Hitsugaya's feet harmlessly. Suddenly glancing behind him, he grimaced slightly as he noticed Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuating. _Che! It looks like Ichigo is already confronting the group of enemies approaching this hideout… I need to hurry and get this over with. I can't waste any more time with this small fry!_

Rolling his neck, Hitsugaya suddenly flash stepped behind a shocked Kabuto with surprising speed, slashing at the air in front of Kabuto's feet in a downwards motion. A large amount of ice suddenly gathered at Kabuto's feet, gathering upwards until it enveloped Kabuto from the waist down in a solid pillar of ice.

"D-Dammit!" spat Kabuto. "You-!" He stopped talking abruptly as he was stabbed through the chest by Hitsugaya. "You…"

"Sorry, kid," apologized Hitsugaya in a calm tone. "I'm afraid that I can't waste any more time here."

A thin film of ice appeared around the sword wound and enlarged until Kabuto was completely enveloped in a solid casing of ice. After a chilling second, the ice casket shattered along with Kabuto, thousands of pieces of sparkling ice remaining suspended in the air before disappearing into nothingness.

Hitsugaya suddenly flinched, appearing startled by a sudden surge of reiatsu coming from outside of the hideout. _Shit! Kurosaki removed his cloak!_ His haori flapping behind him, Hitsugaya spun around and sped towards the entrance of the hideout.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Naruto swiftly ducked in a crouch motion, narrowly avoiding Orochimaru's Sword of Kusanagi as it whistled over his head. He quickly leapt away right after, but the Sannin's unique sword simply extended at a surprising speed, the tip of the blade aimed at Naruto's heart.

_Che!_ Grimacing, Naruto raised his sword and blocked the attack in time; however, he was sent flying into the wall by force of the continuously extending sword. _Dammit…! The white shit is a little stronger than I thought..._ Raising his free hand, Naruto pointed his index finger at Orochimaru. "**Hadō #4: Byakurai **(Pale Lightening)!"

A concentrated bolt of blue-white lightning generated at the tip of Naruto's finger, releasing the next second and streaking across the area towards the surprised Sannin. Leaping back in order to avoid the attack, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the word "Hadō." _Hadō #4…?_ he wondered. _So this boy learned the same unusual Ninjutsu as Sui-Feng…? Very interesting…_

The bolt of pale lightning slammed into the corner of the wall on the opposite side of the room behind Orochimaru, creating a miniature explosion that sent a generous size of rubble tumbling down from the ceiling. "You've gotten stronger, Naruto-kun…" hissed Orochimaru in a slightly pleased yet annoyed tone. "That Ninjutsu that you just used… Where did you learn it…? I'm curious as to how you gained the ability to manipulate lightning-natured chakra like that…"

Naruto frowned at this as he rested the edge of his blade against his shoulder. "Ninjutsu? Lightning-natured chakra…? You fought once before and even you can't figure it out? Didn't you hear the word Hadō? The. Way. Of. Destruction. It's obviously not Ninjutsu baka… But still, you were surprised by that? Well then, let me show you this as well, you scum." Raising his open hand, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he began to recite the chant for another Kido spell. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast… Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle…" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as an orb of bright yellow lightning generated in front the palm of Naruto's hand. Naruto grinned as the orb suddenly started to flicker and discharge small streams of lightning in frenzy. "**Hadō #63: Raikōhō **(Thunder Roar Sear)!"

THUD! A giant stream of fast lightning completely demolished the right side of the chamber as it traveled towards Orochimaru. A giant cloud of smoke filled the room as the attack ended, the smoke slowly fading away to reveal Orochimaru on the ground, heavily injured from the Kido spell.

Naruto blinked, his face immobile as he stared at the wounded enemy. Orochimaru struggled to lift his head as he glared at Naruto, his face covered in blood. "A-A chant…? S-So t-that's what the ch-chant was for… You p-powered up your a-attack th-through a chant s-somehow… I-I would have n-never expected that… N-Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun… **NARUTO-KUN**!" hissed Orochimaru, yelling out the last part. His body suddenly trembling violently, his skin seemed to shed as a large white snake in the appearance of Orochimaru slithered out from his human body, hissing in anger as he stared at Naruto through his snake eyes. "Naruto-kun… I don't know what kind of power you've attained, but I know that it's mine to take! Now relax… and become a part of me! You'll make an excellent substitute for Sasuke-kun!"

And with that, Orochimaru lunged at a surprised Naruto, his mouth wide open for the kill. "Come to me, Naruto-kun!"

Taken by surprise, Naruto was barely able to avoid the lunge as he jumped out of the way just in the nick of time. Hundreds of small white snakes suddenly emerged from the scales on Orochimaru's snake body and lunged at Naruto in his stead, succeeding in trapping his Zanpakuto as well as his legs.

"D-Dammit!" Raising his Zanpakuto in the air with some difficulty, Naruto glared at Orochimaru as he called out the release command for his Zanpakuto, which he had resealed at some point. "**Open the floodgates, Kamikaze **(Divine Wind)!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock as his miniature snake army was instantly bisected by a flurry of water, wind, and lightning. "W-What is this…?! Your sword…"

"This is my Zanpakuto, Kamikaze," stated Naruto as he held his Zanpakuto out in front of him. "Also, it's the sword that's going to bisect you just like it did to your precious little snakes over there…" He winced inwardly as he struggled not to fall on his feet. _Dammit… Those snakes got me more than I thought that they did… In this condition, I won't be able to move as quickly as I normally do… Thankfully..._

Raising his sword high into the air, Naruto activated Kurama's Shroud and used his unbelievable speed granted by that form to flash step behind Orochimaru, raising his sword high into the air and slamming it down onto the Sannin with all his strength.

A minute later, Naruto, releasing Kurama's Shroud, stood over Orochimaru's giant snake body, the body having been almost completely destroyed by Naruto's Kurama-enhanced attack. "Orochimaru… It's over you snake scum… You're-." Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he swiftly turned around as a large rumbling noise came from behind him. "What the-…!"

The ground in front of him suddenly exploded as a large white create suddenly rose up from the ground. The creature, because of the its' massive size, caused the ground below them collapse, and Naruto yelled out as he fell below the underground chamber, falling over a hundred and fifty feet before he landed on a pile of rubble in a crouched position. _What the hell… What in the world was that…?_

Looking up, Naruto looked on in disbelief at what laid before him. "What… the… fuck…? Orochimaru, you…"

Before him lay a colossal eight-headed serpent with spiked scales as well as five towering ivory spikes behind it. Orochimaru, who was in his human form once again, was standing on top of the colossal serpent with his Sword of Kusanagi in his hand. "Naruto-kun," wheezed the Sannin with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "This is my ultimate technique, the **Eight Branches Jutsu**… This jutsu transcends the realm of snakes and borders the realm of dragons!"

As the snake moved forward, its scaled underbelly trampled and flattened out everything in its path. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he reactivated Kurama's Shroud. "Let's do this, Orochimaru… It's time for me to rid you from this world for good!" Stabbing his Zanpakuto into the ground, Naruto held out both of his hand towards the ground in front of him. "**Hadō #1: Shō **(Thrust)!"

As the ground in front of him exploded into a giant cloud of dust, Naruto grabbed his Zanpakuto and used this makeshift smokescreen to speed behind the serpent, swinging his released Zanpakuto at it while generating a storm of water, wind, and lightning.

THUD! The powerful flurry of storm knocked the colossal serpent over five feet back, and the Kurama-enhanced Shikai attack completely bypassed the steel-hard scales and heavily damaged it. Orochimaru, who was taken by surprise, narrowed his eyes as he quickly turned around to face the direction from which Naruto attacked.

"Damn you, Naruto-kun! Eight Branches, attack!" hissed Orochimaru angrily.

The angered serpent lunged at Naruto at its' master's order. Naruto quickly dodged the attack, and the ground seemed to explode from the impact as the serpent's teeth bit into the ground._ W-What a powerful attack!_ said Naruto to himself as he skidded to a halt. _But still, it's only powerful… It's slow, and the only thing that it's got is its' steel-hard scales. Once I get pass that, it's over. Let's finish this, Kurama! Kamikaze!_

Gripping the hilt with both hands, Naruto swung his Zanpakuto at him with all his strength. "Go, Kamikaze!" he roared.

The very air seemed to shake as the whole entire underground area was literally torn apart from the fury of the attack. Orochimaru grimaced as he shielded his face with his arm, retreating into the inside of the serpent in order to avoid the attack. _Dammit…! This can't be!_

A moment later after the attack had subsided, Naruto stood over a heavily wounded Orochimaru, the serpent lying dead on over twenty feet away from the two. Brandishing his Zanpakuto, he glanced down at the Sannin, a sad look in his eyes as he held his Zanpakuto over him, point down.

"This is for Konoha… Now burn in hell where you belong…" Naruto said before driving his blade into the Sannin, killing him instantly.

Sheathing his blade, Naruto sighed in relief as he picked up the Sword of Kusanagi, closing his eyes as he straightened up. _Kurama… Kamikaze…_

_"Heh!"_ Kamikaze laughed, and Naruto pictured an arrogant smirk on his face. _"It seems that the battle lifted a great burden from your shoulders, Naruto… But still, remember that if you want to really free yourself and the Shinobi World from the past, you'll have to deal with __**him**__ as well as your old comrades…"_

_"Yea…"_ Naruto sighed in exasperation._ "I know…"_

_"Hmmm…"_ Kurama frowned as Naruto left the realm of his mind. **_Both Naruto and Kamikaze have been acting a lot more serious since this whole Shinobi World mission began…_**

Naruto opened his eyes as he suddenly sensed Ichigo's fluctuating reiatsu. _Dammit…! They're here…_

And with that, Naruto put on his mask and leapt out of the hole as he sped towards the entrance of the cave, knowing in his heart that he would have to end up fighting his teammates himself as much as he didn't want to hurt them.

* * *

_Outside of the hideout…_

Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai sped across the rocky wasteland and towards Orochimaru's hideout where Ichigo was guarding the entrance. "Are we almost there yet?!" snarled Kiba angrily. "This is taking forever!"

"P-Please be patient, Kiba-kun!" begged Hinata nervously. "W-We should b-be there soon!"

"Che!" Kiba scoffed in annoyance. "I just want to hurry up and kill that Orochimaru bastard myself!"

"You should be more patient," said Shino is his usual calm voice. "Why is that? Because being annoyed won't get us there any faster."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he saw a large rocky mountain-like boulder just ahead of them. _We're here… And…_

Hinata suddenly looked up as she sensed something. "Everyone, stop!"

As the two teams came to a halt, Sakura looked at her questioningly. "What is it, Hinata?"

"Byakugan!" Hinata narrowed her eyes as she scanned the area, rocking back as she sensed the origin of the strong presence that she had felt before. "I-It's… the people who attacked Konoha earlier!"

The two groups looked on in shock as they stared up at the giant boulder, a figure standing on top of it. "It's been a long time since we've last crossed paths… Sasuke. Do you remember me…?"

Sasuke glared up at the figure as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Oh, don't worry… You'll be nothing but a bad memory after I defeat you here and now… Kurosaki Ichigo."

Next Time - Rematch! Shinigami vs Konoha!


	18. 17: Rematch! Shinigami vs Konoha!

**Chapter 17: Rematch! Shinigami vs Konoha!**

**A/N: This is the last of the chapters from TheUchiha'sLegacy. All chapters from here on out are originals from me. Also updates will now be less frequent. **

Disclaimer: Still applies

* * *

[Outside of Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass]

_Current Time..._

_"It's been a long time since we've last crossed paths… Sasuke. Do you remember me…?"_

_Sasuke glared up at the figure as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Oh, don't worry… You'll be nothing but a bad memory after I defeat you here and now… Kurosaki Ichigo."_

Using his flash step, Ichigo landed on the ground below him, grabbing the hilt of his sword in the process. "You should know that it won't be that easy," said Ichigo with a slight frown. "I thought that you would have learned that after I kicked your ass the last time we crossed paths."

Kiba looked at Ichigo, then Sasuke. "Sasuke… Is this really the guy that beat you, Sakura and Sai by himself…?"

Sasuke nodded in confirmation. "Yea… it's hard to forget an opponent like that, Kiba."

Rolling his neck in anticipation, Kiba grinned wildly at Ichigo. "Ichigo Kurosaki, eh? He sure doesn't look like much!"

"You're one to talk, puppy boy," Ichigo retorted back, earning a angry scowl from Kiba. "Anyway, Sasuke… You and your friends better not hold back this time. I won't go easy on-." Ichigo stopped in mid-sentence as an angry Kiba rushed at him with his dog/partner Akamaru.

"Kiba-san, don't!" warned Jiraiya, knowing full well that this guy was way beyond the chunin's league; in his anger, however, Kiba ignored the Toad Sage's warning... a bad idea on his part.

In a display of speed and agility that Sasuke and his teammates remembered all too clearly Ichigo effortlessly dodged Kiba's attack and grabbed him by the collar before he threw the Inuzuka clansman with surprising strength at the giant mountain-like boulder behind him. Ichigo then leaped into the air and swung his leg at Akamaru, knocking the dog out with a kick that was strong enough to create a small crater. Kakashi and Jiraiya were both surprised by this; not only was Ichigo able to knock Kiba out so effortlessly but the orange-haired teenager did it when he wasn't even paying much attention to the young chunin.

"Geez…" Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he glanced at the two unconscious figures. "I hadn't even finished my sentence yet…"

Looking up to face the angry glares from Sasuke and the others, Ichigo sighed. "Don't worry about them; they're still alive... though they're both out of the fight." He briefly paused as he tried to recall his warning to them. "Anyways, as I was saying… I won't go easy on you guys this time around."

Glancing back at Kakashi and Jiraya after calming himself down, Sasuke started to slowly unwind a bandage-like wrapping that was wrapped around his right arm, something that Ichigo had recognized from their previous battle. "Kakashi-sensei… Jiraya… I need you to help Sakura and the others hold this guy back for three minutes…"

Kakashi glanced down at Sasuke's arm, looking back up right after to stare at Ichigo. "Are you planning on releasing that…?"

Sasuke nodded curtly. "Yeah… Since there's no inhabited towns nearby for several miles around us, I can do so safely… Also, Guy's team won't be arriving for a while so we're on own until then…"

"What are you talking about, Sasuke…?" asked Ichigo in a slightly annoyed tone. "Do you have some sort of trump card or something?"

Having finished unwinding the bandage from his right arm, Sasuke turned his shoulder to reveal a black pattern closely resembling his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which was three intersecting ellipses with a shuriken in the middle. The middle of the shuriken was hollowed out, and the kanji for "seal" was written in the middle of the shuriken. "Do you get it now?" he asked.

Ichigo grinned as he saw this. "So that's why your attacks felt so weak…" After receiving a nod from Sasuke, Ichigo unsheathed his Zanpakuto, pointing it at Sasuke. "In that case, I should probably use 100% of my strength as well, right?" Stabbing his Zanpakuto into the ground, Ichigo grabbed his cloak by the shoulder, taking it off with a single move.

Everyone, including Sasuke, looked surprised by the sudden trembling movement that came from the ground below. Hinata looked shocked by the sudden surge of energy that came from Ichigo, and she gripped her hands tightly together in front of her chest. "W-Who is this person…" _H-His power seems strangely similar to Naruto-kun's…_

Sai, who had been quietly standing beside Sakura, narrowed his eyes as he felt the aftermath of Ichigo removing his cloak. _So this Ichigo and his teammates… Their cloaks must be what's suppressing their powers…_

"Che!" Ichigo yanked his sealed Zanpakuto from the ground and slashed it through the air, the sword suddenly transforming into his usual oversized khyber knife. "Let's go, Sasuke…" And with that, he sped towards the group of Konoha ninjas, his sword trailing behind him.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke slammed his hands together, emitting a large amount of chakra as he focused on releasing his seal. Seeing this, Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he charged at Sasuke, the tip of his Zanpakuto dragging on the ground behind him. "Do you really think that I'll let you do that?!" exclaimed Ichigo as he swung at him. "Don't even think about it, Sasuke!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as Kakashi suddenly appeared between the two, blocking Ichigo's swing with his father's White Light Chakra Sabre, which was a tantō. White sparks flew everywhere as the two blades collided, and Ichigo squinted in an attempt to block out the sparks.

Taking advantage of this, Kakashi pulled up his slanted mask that shielded his eye to reveal his Sharingan and flipped over on his hands, spinning around and kicking at Ichigo with both feet. However, Ichigo saw this, and he easily blocked the attack with his arm and swung down at Kakashi with his sword.

Thanks to his Sharingan, Kakashi was able to dodge the swing, and he swiftly leapt back to his feet and stabbed at the orange-haired Shinigami with his tantō.

Knocking his tanto aside, Ichigo swung his blade up in an attempt to cleave Kakashi's face in half; however, Kakashi managed to bend backwards enough to dodge the attack, and both of them clashed blades once again, narrowing their eyes as they tried to break out of the deadlock.

As Ichigo tried to back away, he suddenly ducked as Sakura appeared next to him, swinging her fist in a wide arc. Her fist swung over Ichigo's head, barely missing him by a centimeter. The force of the attack caused the very air to tremble, and the ground beneath them began to crack as Sakura had released her Yin Seal.

"Che!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he leaped back away from the kunoichi._ That annoying brute strength again…! She's not as skilled as Sasuke, though she is skilled, but if she lands a single clean hit on me I'll be in huge trouble!_ As he skidded to a halt, he looked at Sakura in surprise as she suddenly executed multiple hand seals. _A jutsu?_

Ichigo suddenly wobbled in place as he felt the ground tremble below him. Large tree roots suddenly shot up out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Ichigo, who was unable to dodge the attack in time. _W-What the hell is this…?!_ Ichigo scowled as he tried to free himself. _D-Dammit…! It's too strong…! I can't-!_

"_Ichigo!_"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he recognized Zangetsu's voice. "_Old man! I can't free myself from-!_"

"_Ichigo!_" repeated Zangetsu sternly. "_Can't you feel it? This is not like the jutsus that you saw back in Konoha... She's trapping your mind in an illusion by distorting your flow of reiatsu!_"

… "_Huh?_"

Zangetsu sighed in exasperation, and Ichigo suddenly felt something cold touch his mind as if Zangetsu was pressing his fingers against his head. "_All that's needed to free you from this illusion is to snap you out of it. Bear with this, Ichigo…_"

Ichigo suddenly yelped out loud as he felt a sharp pain against his side, and he shook his head as he looked around at the surprised Konoha group, suddenly free from Sakura's Genjutsu. This was because unlike Aizen's "flawless" complete hypnosis, Shinigami have no trouble breaking free from a ninja's Genjutsu as long they're in sync with their Zanpakuto. This is similar to a Jinchuuriki who has a strong relationship with his Bijuu.

Sakura looked utterly shocked by what had happened. _Th-This guy…! He was able to break out of a high-leveled Genjutsu so easily…?! Kurenai-sensei taught me this jutsu herself!_

Sai whipped out his scroll which he used for his primary jutsu and clamped his jaw around it as he executed multiple hand seals. "**Suiton: Miniature Exploding Water Colliding Wave Jutsu**!" Spitting the scroll up into the air, he took a deep breath and expelled a great amount of water from his mouth. The water covered the area in over a foot of water as everyone jumped onto their own individual rocks in order to avoid the body of water.

Grabbing his scroll before it could hit the body of water, Sai whipped out his ink brush and ink supply, and holding his ink brush in his mouth, he scattered his supply of ink all over the body of water, surprising Ichigo.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked curiously. "Now you can't use your jutsu, dumbass!"

Giving Ichigo a big smile, Sai cocked his head to the right as he smiled at him. "Please don't make crude assumptions based on what you see. Besides not having a dick, are you also missing a brain?"

"I've had enough of your lame comebacks, you pale, dick-obsessed freak!" spat Ichigo, a comical scowl on his face. "I'm going kick your ass so hard you won't know Konoha from Suna!"

Raising his blade high into the air, Ichigo swung at Sai, generating a blue crescent wave from the tip of his blade. "**Getsuga Tensho **(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!"

Sai quickly performed five hand seals, and the inky water in front of him seemed to explode as a giant twenty foot tall wave rose up, acting as a shield. The wave wasn't enough to block the entire attack, and it was easily dissipated by Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho. When the attack cleared up, however, the spot where Sai had been standing was empty.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he quickly spun around, raising his sword in time to block Sai's tantō before it could slice his neck. "Che!" scoffed Ichigo angrily. "Don't mess around with me, you idiot!" With a shout, Ichigo pushed Sai away from him, sending him hurtling back over ten feet away.

Unravelling his scroll, Sai grabbed his ink brush from his mouth and quickly drew five lions with surprising speed. He then proceeded to make a hand seal as he stared hard at Ichigo. "**Ninpo: Beast Imitation Drawing Jutsu**!"

The five drawing came to life with a roar, and the sped flew out of the scroll and, to Ichigo's utter surprise, leapt into the inky body of water. "What the…?" Ichigo blinked as he stared down at the water, confused. "Why did they…?"

The water in front of Ichigo seemed to explode as the five lions sprang out of it, but something was wrong. When they leapt into the water they were about the same size as Akamaru, but now, they were over five times bigger.

Ichigo looked up at the towering beasts with a shocked look on his face. "Wh-What the f-?!" He quickly leapt out of the way as the five lions pounced on him, completely devastating the large rock which he was standing on. _S-So strong…!_ Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he swung his sword at them. "Getsuga… Tensho!"

The crescent wave sped towards the beasts, completely wiping them out. The ink, however, splattered all over the surrounding area as well as Ichigo, who frowned as he wiped some ink off of his face. The ink distracting him, he failed to notice Sai silently execute a combination of complicated hand seals.

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock as the ink that had splattered all over him seemed to come alive. The ink splatters twisted together to form multiple ink snakes, and the snakes quickly wrapped themselves around Ichigo, constricting him before he could make a move.

Kakashi smiled from his position besides Jiraya. _Sai was able to perfect his__** Beast Imitation Drawing Jutsu**__ just a while ago… Now he can create ink beasts without his ink brush by preparing beforehand._

Grimacing, Ichigo took a deep breath as he prepared to break of the attack, but he suddenly found himself unable to move an inch as Kakashi trapped him even further by wrapping steel wires around him multiple times. _Sh-Shit! I can't move at all!_ cursed Ichigo mentally. _At this rate, I-!_

He looked up as he heard something like a powerful gust of wind in front of him. Hinata, who had been quietly standing away from the group, was now rushing towards Ichigo, her arms raised at waist-length. "**Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists**!" said Hinata, and with that, she drew both fists, with were now encased in energy in the form of lion heads, back for the killing blow.

Closing his eyes, Ichigo seemed to relax as he took the attack almost willingly, his head snapping back as Hinata's fist connected with his chest. Everyone looked surprised by this, and they stood still as they stared at Ichigo's limp body.

"I-Is it… over…?" asked Hinata.

… "Not even close," said a voice behind her, causing everyone to spin around in shock.

The "Ichigo" in front of Hinata suddenly flickered into nothingness, only a piece of cloth in its' place. The "real" Ichigo was calmly standing behind a surprised Hinata, and he held his sword and tried to smack her with the base of his hilt her with an almost lazy-like movement.

"Not so fast!"

Ichigo quickly ducked as two Kusarigamas sped towards him, easily evading them. The attack, however, was enough of a distraction for Hinata to escape unscathed. "Che!" Ichigo scoffed as he straightened up, glaring at Sakura as he brandished his sword.

Kakashi, who had been quietly sneaking up behind Ichigo, suddenly sped forward and slashed at him with his tantō. "Hah!" Ichigo quickly spun around and blocked his attack, grinning at him as their blade scraped against each other. "Don't think you can get me with such a-!"

"**Rasengan **(Spiraling Sphere)!"

THUD! The ground seemed to rip apart as Ichigo skillfully dodged Jiraya's attack, which slammed on the ground where he was just at a moment ago. _It's that attack… where did he learn...?!_Spinning around to face Jiraya, Ichigo frowned as he looked at the aftermath of the attack. "What is that attack? And where did you learn it...?"

"Rasengan," repeated Jiraya. "My former student Minato, the Fourth Hokage, was the creator of this jutsu, and he's the one that taught it to me."

Ichigo blinked, surprised at hearing the name of his fellow Shinigami and Naruto's father. "Oh, so are you the Toad Sannin guys that I've heard about?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me, have you?" The Sannin smirked as he suddenly got into his dramatic pose, his arms outstretched. "To think that even an outsider has heard of my name! Well, allow me to introduce myself!" Taking a deep breath, Jiraya spun his long spiked hair in a circular motion. "I-!" He suddenly leaped back as Ichigo suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging his blade in an uppercut motion in order to hack the Sannin in half.

"HEY!" scowled Jiraya, a comical scowl on his face. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO INTERRUPT ME, AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL I'M IN MID-SENTENCE!"

Ichigo grinned as he rested the edge of his blade against his shoulder. "Sorry about that old man," he said mockingly. "I didn't mean to interrupt your amazing self-introduction, but it just was so boring that I let my hand slip."

As Jiraya opened his mouth to shout out a retort, Ichigo drew his sword back and swung at him. "**Getsuga Borē** (Moon Fang Volley)!"

As Ichigo swung his blade, instead of the blue crescent wave shooting out from the tip of the sword, a barrage of hundreds of large, blue arrow point-shaped energy blasts shot out at the Sannin, surprising him. "You're through old man!" Ichigo called out as Jiraiya stuggled to dodge the barrage. "You-!"

"**Raikiri **(Lightening Cutter)!"

Ichigo spun around to see Kakashi speeding towards him, his hand enveloped in lightning blue chakra. "_Oh shit!_" He seemed to freeze in mid-air as time appeared to slow to a crawl until-

"**Hadō #33: Sōkatsui **(Blue Fire, Crash Down)!"

Kakashi withdrew his hand, which was a millimeter away from Ichigo's chest, in order to dodge a torrent of blue lightning-like energy that threatened to blow off his hand. "Wh-What in the world was that?!"

Ichigo slowly looked up and was shocked to see a familiar figure standing in the air in the standard black Shinigami uniform wearing a tan tattered cloak.

"R-Rukia…?"

_Wh-What in the world…?! _a surprised Kakashi thought it himself. _How can she levitate in the air…?! Is she able to use the Dust Release or is some type of Wind Release-attributed Kekkei Genkai…?!_ Snapping out of his shock, he turned to face Jiraya. "Jiraya-sama, is this woman one of the two members of Sui-Feng's team that was spotted in the Land of Grass?"

Jiraya shook his head, his arms crossed as he stared down at the pike of dirt in front of him. "No, I'm afraid not…"

Sakura looked up in surprise as she realized something. "So does this mean that there's now six opponents that we have to deal with?!"

"I'm afraid so, Sakura…" Uncrossing his arms, he looked up at Rukia, his body tense. "Stay on alert... we don't know what she's capable of."

Flash stepping to Ichigo's side, Rukia maintained a steady gaze as she kept her eyes on the group from Konoha. "Ichigo, are you alright?" she asked, her eyes still facing front.

"Yea," replied Ichigo in a calm tone. "Anyways, what are you doing here, Rukia? I thought that you-."

"I'll explain everything later after we deal with these guys," said Rukia abruptly, cutting him off.

Grinning, Ichigo nodded as he got into a battle-ready stance. "Are you sure that you can handle it though? We've fought against these ninja before, and I can tell you that they're not holding back like last time. It could get pretty rough."

"Baka!" Rukia scowled as she whacked Ichigo upside his head. "Did you forget about this?" Raising her arm to his face, Ichigo saw that she had on a lieutenant's armband. "In case I have to remind you I became the vice-captain of my division two weeks before heading back to Karakura Town. In any case, **he** didn't recommend me as **his** replacement just because we're close friends you know. Besides, I've already dealt with the bug boy so I can handle myself just fine."

After hearing this, Ichigo, as well as the Konoha shinobi, suddenly noticed Shino's disappearance. "What did you do with Shino?!" demanded Sakura in an angry voice. "What happened to him?!"

"I simply knocked him unconscious," replied Rukia calmly. "He won't be joining the battle, so-." She suddenly stopped talking as Kakashi and Sakura speeding towards her and Ichigo, Kakashi wielding his chakra blade and Sakura drawing back her fist to deliver a chakra-enhanced blow. "Get read-!"

THUD! Kakashi and Sakura both went flying back as two streaks of yellow and white rammed into them, stopping their attacks. The two figures, Naruto and Hitsugaya, straightened up as they walked over to Ichigo and Rukia. "Just in time... (he turns to Toshiro) Toshiro, can you handle the other approaching ninja?" asked Naruto as he glanced at the young captain out of the corner of his eyes.

Nodding in response to this request, Hitsugaya flickered out of view as he flash stepped away. After he went, Naruto turned his gaze to Ichigo and Rukia. "Hey Ichigo, Rukia!" he greeted warmly.

Frowning, Ichigo brushed off his sudden greeting as he walked up to the blonde Shinigami. "Save the greeting for later," he said in an annoyed tone. "So are those two guys dead?"

Naruto nodded as he held up Orochimaru's sword for him to see. "Here's your proof."

Jiraya, who recognized the sword in Naruto's hand, looked utterly shocked by it. "I-Is that… what I think it is…?"

"Yes…" Naruto grinned from behind his mask, which he had put on again after the fight. "It's the legendary Sword of Kusanagi, a 'gift' from the now **late** Orochimaru."

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as he seemed to suddenly freeze up. "B-But, that means that…"

"That's right," said Naruto. "Orochimaru is no longer among the living; to put it simply, I killed him off myself."

The Konoha ninja looked shocked by this- Sakura especially. _H-How powerful is this guy if he was able to kill that white snake bastard singlehandedly…?!_

Before any of the ninja could open their mouths to say something out loud, they were suddenly interrupted by a silent shockwave of chakra that rippled through the area.

Sasuke, who had finally finished releasing his seal, split apart his joined hands and rolled his neck as he stretched out his arms. Reaching behind his back and into his ninja tool bag, he brought out a scroll similar to the one that Sakura kept her Kusarigamas in and unraveled it, revealing the kanji for "Fire" written in the middle of it.

As a column of smoke leaked out from the seal, Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he was enveloped in a pillar of smoke. Once the smoke cleared up, he was revealed wielding a gunbai, a war fan, in his right hand. The war fan was dark grey, the same color as his sleeveless shirt, and on both sides of the fan were three symbols emblazoned on it- the symbols of the Uchiha Clan, Konoha, and the Uzushio symbol that was found on the back of the Konoha flak jackets.

Naruto, who looked surprised by the appearance of the gunbai, narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at it. "Wait a second, is that-?"

"So you recognize it?" asked Sasuke dramatically as he whipped the gunbai out by his side. He chuckled as he studied the Shinigami group. "Well, you should. It's the same gunbai that was once wielded by Uchiha Madara."

Next Time - The White Blade's Dance!

* * *

**Information:**

**- Rukia's hair is the same as it was before the time-skip in Bleach. Just so you guys don't get confused with her look from after the timeskip.**


	19. 18: The White Blade Dances!

**Chapter 18: The White Blade's Dance!**

Disclaimer: Still Applies.

**A/N: This chapter starts the beginning of the captors written by yours truly. I also wish that you have a happy holidays! **

* * *

[Outside of Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]

_Current Time..._

The shinigami team stared at Sasuke as he dramatically held out his new weapon. Naruto and Rukia were impressed at the large fan. Ichigo, on the other hand, was not.

"_Seriously? Who in their right mind wields a frickin' fan as a weapon? But if that Madara guy Soifon told us about wielded that thing then it's probably more useful than it appears._"

Rather than attacking with the gunbai, Sasuke set it to the side and went through a series of handsigns while kneading a chakra into his mouth.

"**Katon: Flame Bullet**," he shouted as he spat out a fire ball that lazily shot out towards them. It look rather unimpressive coming from somebody at Sasuke's level. However, Sauske then grabbed his gunbai, holding it in a two handed grip as he swung it like a baseball bat.

"**Gunbai Fanned Wind**," he called out as the wind caught up with the Flame Bullet and feed the flames. The two separate attacks then turned it a giant orb of intense flames. It's speed also increased, as it was now racing towards the Shinigami. The patches of grass along its pathway were being burned up and it left charred, burned ground in its trail. Nauto, Ichigo, and Rukia were able to evade the attack with their shunpo as it hit the rock behind them. As the fireball hit the rock, it heated it and caused it to look like red-hot embers.

The three shinigami discreetly regrouped behind a boulder that was nearby the battlefield. Despite the fact they evaded the attack, they still felt the heat from it as they were sweating. Ichigo's breathing began to slow down as he began to speak.

"Alright, that was much more powerful than most of his other moves. Sasuke's definitely not pulling any punches."

"I agree, Ichigo. I'm just surprised that he decided to break out his Elemental Ninjutsu. He only used the **Chidori** (One Thousand Birds) back in Konoha. I hate To imagine how powerful his Susanoo will be if he goes that far," Naruto said as he adjusted his mask so he could breath properly.

"_We can't fight Sasuke where we are if he's at this level and unrestrained with people backing him up. Looks like we have to separate them_."

Naruto turned to his former subordinate as she lay against the rock.

"Rukia, do you think you can take on Sakura, Sai, and Hinata?"

"I think I'm more than enough for them, Naruto."

"Good. Now, here's the plan…"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Team 7 surveyed the damage that Sasuke's attack did as the heat from it began to slowly cool off.

"Sasuke-san, do you think that your wind and fire gunbai attack got them?," Sai ask as Sasuke held his gunbai in a battle ready position, not willing to take any chances.

"I don't know Sai, it's hard to tell-"

Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, "Menma" and his two accomplices jumped out of their hiding place and were preparing to attack. Ichigo had Zangetsu out and was charging reiryoku into it while Naruto and Rukia their palms out preparing their respective kidō spells.

"**Getsuga Tenshō** (Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)!"

"**Hadō #33: Sōkatsui** (Blue Fire Crash Down)!"

"**Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō** (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)!"

Ichigo fired out a blue crescent wave of reiryoku while Rukia fired out a torret of blue white energy. Naruto's attack, however, did something completely different. He fired out a gigantic and powerful beam of white-blue electrical energy, which crackled as it headed towards Team Kakashi, Hinata, and Jiraiya. Having little to no options available, they them jumped in different directions as the attacks hit the boulder behind them. Upon contact, it exploded into a glorious burst of light, bringing up dust and debris with it.

Sakura, Sai, and Hinata were able to escape from the attack, although they were now separated from Sasuke and the rest. As they gathered their bearings, they soon noticed they were face-to-face with Menma's new female accomplice. She was a short and petite young woman with black hair and violet eyes. She currently had her hands on the hilt of her katana, which had a reddish brown hilt and a rectangular tsuba. The tsuba was decorated with a flame-like pattern on its long sides and curved lines on its short sides.

"Please, for your own good, back down. You'll only end up harming yourself," Rukia reasoned as she slowly withdrew her sword. Sakura simply sighed as she tightened her gloves.

"I'm sorry, but we can't. Hinata, do it now!"

The pale-eyed girl noted, before activating her Byakugan and rearing her hand back with the palm open. She then thrusted her hand forward and announced the name of her attack.

"**Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm**!"

Hinata's attack launched forward and formed a compressed shell of air. Rukia dodged to the side as it hit a rock behind her and crumbled it upon impact.

"_I didn't expect this Hinata girl to use force. From what Naruto has told me and from what I've seen she's a lot like Orihime_," Rukia thought to herself as she swiftly landed on her feet. She then turned her attention to Sakura, who began to speak.

"Look, I'm telling you to back off. A kid like you shouldn't be fighting anyway," Sakura said as a vein popped up on Rukia's forehead.

"Oh, you're the one to talk, Banshee!"

The air went deathly silent as vein popped up on her forehead and she began to simmer with anger.

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me right, I called you a banshee! Or is your hearing all messed up from your constant yelling?"

"I don't have to take this from you, you little midget!"

"At least I don't have a freakishly large forehead," Rukia taunted, using a fact that Naruto mentioned about Sakura hating people making fun of forehead.

"It's not freakishly huge, damnit!"

"Oh, you're just in denial about it."

"Shut it, you runt!"

"I AM NOT A RUNT!"

"Yes you are!"

"I'm just petite! You're just a giant, especially with your ungodly huge forehead!"

"I said shut up!"

"I would if your screeching wasn't piercing my ears."

Hinata and Sai stood out by the sidelines, both confused and horrified about the argument happening before them.

"Both Sakura-san and this girl are so similar to each other," Hinata mumbled as Sai nodded in agreement. She then stepped forward and tried to disrupt the argument.

"P-please, can we just calm down and-"

"SHUT UP!" The two girls shouted simultaneously as the young Hyuuga girl backed up and stood besides Sai again. Sakura, who was at her boiling point right now, tried to deliver a powerful haymaker towards the Thirteenth Division lieutenant. However, Rukia was able to dodge with her shunpo. Taking a couple of soothing and calming breaths, she opened her eyes and focused.

"Alright. I've done my best to reason with you, but you've given me no choice than to use force," she said as she placed her zanpakuto in front of her before uttering a single phrase.

"**Dance, Sode no Shirayuki** (Sleeved White Snow)."

With that, Rukia turned her zanpakuto in circle counter-clockwise as began to slowly transform. The blade, hilt, and tsuba turned into a completely beautiful snow-white color. The tsuba had become a snowflake like circle while a white ribbon formed at the pommel.

The shinobi were stunned by this but also captured by the beauty of the sword.

"_A-amazing … it's like I'm looking into a winter landscape_." Sakura thought to herself as she marveled at her opponent's weapon. "_And she used a sword transformation technique that's similar to the one Ichigo used_."

Grabbing the sword in both hands, Rukia readied herself into a battle position.

"Here I go."

Rukia made a horizontal slash with her zanpakuto, which sent out a wave of ice-cold air at the three shinobi, who managed to dodge the attack. Sakura and Sai both went into a series of handsigns as they prepared a collaboration technique.

"**Suiton: Wild Water Wave**!"

"**Fūton: Gale Palm**."

Sakura then spewed out a large current of water that then headed towards Rukia. Sai clapped his hands together and unleashed a large gale of wind, which caught up with the rushing waters. The two elements then combines, increasing the speed and destructive force of the wave. Rukia simply stood still before stabbing her sword into the ground, creating a large ice circle around her. She then punctured the ground four times in a semi-circle, causing ice particles to flow up from the holes. Rukia then took a battle pose as she announced her attack.

"**Tsugi no mai, Hakuren** (Next Dance, White Ripple)!"

The ice particles build up at the tip of Sode no Shirayuki, before exploding forward in an avalanche of frost and cold air. It reached the approaching water wave and flash froze it in solid ice, stopping it in its path. The wave of air continued on, covering a few bushes and rocks in its path and encasing them in ice.

"_So this girl can use some sort of Ice Release technique in conjecture with her sword. She's like that Haku person during the mission in the Land of the Waves_," Sakura thought to herself as she unsealed her scroll containing her kusarigamas as Sai placed his drawing scroll on the ground as he prepared to use his Beast Imitation Drawing Jutsu. However, this did not escape Rukia's notice, as she stabbed the ground.

"**Juhaku** (White Tree)," she said as a trail of ice started to head towards Sai's direction. Luckily, Sai was able to jump out of the way in time. Sai then pulled out a few shuriken and threw, but not before breathing wind chakra onto them.

"**Fūton: Vacuum Blade**," he said as he threw the shuriken, which now had transluscent wind blades on it. Thinking quickly, Rukia stabbed her zanpakuto into the ground, which created a large ice barrier and blocked the attack. She then jumped out of the way and placed her right palm in front of her.

"**Hadō #31: Shakkahō **(Red Fire Cannon)," she yelled as she fired off a ball of crimson energy at Sai. Sai evaded the attack as Sakura came and spinning her kusarigamas. The top part of the blade was pitch black while the other part of it was a dull silver color. Sakura threw her first one, which Rukia was able to block with her zanpakuto, However, Sakura then pulled back on the chain and threw her second one in a rapid succession. Rukia barely had time to dodge as it whizzed pass her head, taking off a few hairs. She then noticed Hinata, who currently had not taken any action. She was now going through a few hand signs.

"**Doton: Earth Spear**," she announced as her arms were now coated in a dark, earth like substance.

Hinata then rushed forward and did a series of palm strikes against Rukia. The 13th Division lieutenant was able to avoid most of the attacks, but one of Hinata's strikes manages to hit her in her left shoulder. Rukia winced at the pain the strike caused, and it felt like she either fractured or damaged her shoulder. She then noticed Sakura coming in, holding her two kusarigamas by their handles, Sai closing in, holding his tantō, and finally Hinata coming in, preparing for another Gentle Fist strike. Knowing that trying to face all three of them head-on was almost suicidal, she slammed her hand on the ground.

"**Bakudō #21: Sekienton** (Red Smoke Escape)!"

A large cloud of red smoke suddenly burst up from the ground where her hand was, obscuring the area. She then used her shunpo to escape the area. The three shinobi had stopped in their tracks once Rukia had used the spell. Sai then sheathed his tantō and prepared to use another wind jutsu.

"**Fūton: Great Breakthrough**," he said as he thrust his arms forward, creating a sudden gust of wind which blew away the smokescreen. However, as the smoke cleared, it revealed Rukia in a battle position, preparing to use Hakuren again. The avalanche cold air rushed towards them. However, they were prepared for the wave this time as both Hinata and Sakura were going through handsigns.

"**Doton: Enclosing Wall**," they both shouted as two walls of earth sprung up from the ground and blocked most of the attack. However, some of the air got through and manage to get to the shinobi. Sakura and Sai got hit in the leg while Hinata got hit in the arm. A thin layer of ice began to form where they got hit.

However, before either side could retaliate or counter, both them felt two sudden surges in their respective teammates power.

"_Oh no, did Ichigo go and used __**that**__?_" Rukia thought to herself as her eyes widen in fear.

"_What did Ichigo and that Menma guy do to force Sasuke to go all out?_" Sakura thought to herself, as she stood petrified.

* * *

[15 miles outside of the Current Battlefield, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]

_Meanwhile…_

As the battle between Rukia and the three shinobi suddenly came to a halt, Team Guy was currently leaping through the forest, heading to help their comrades. Neji currently had his Byakugan activated. He had currently ben sensing the ongoing battles with his all-seeing eyes.

"_These battles are going more intense by the second! I hope that Hinata-sama hasn't gone and used __**it**__ yet._"

The Hyuuga prodigy was cut out of his musings when his eyes detected an approaching presence coming towards them. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and held up a hand, causing his teammates to stop.

"What is it, Neji-kun?" Lee asked his teammate as Neji cautiously analyzed his surroundings.

"I sense some sort of threat close by. Do anyone else feel it?

The rest of Team Guy nodded as they all felt the temperature around them suddenly drop. Their breath started to condense and became visible. Neji's eyes started to widen as he felt a sudden increase in energy.

"Scatter!" he yelled as a huge Chinese dragon made of pure ice slammed onto the ground. Luckily, Team Guy was bale to evade the attack as it froze the area it hit into solid ice.

"They're finally here," Neji whispered, as his teammates looked up towards the top most branch of a nearby tree, where a man stood.

He was short, standing around 4'4" with spiky, snow-white hair and turquoise eyes. Despite his short height the rest of his features made it clear that he was much older what his height would suggest, easily around the age of 14 or 15 years old. He wore a black kosode, hakama, waraji sandals with tabi socks, and a white, sleeveless haori. A green sash was around his shoulders, held together by a round, star-like clip. In his hands was a katana that was slightly taller than he was. It had a light blue hilt and a tsuba in the shape of a four-point, bronze colored star. Attacked to the pommel was a long, silver chain that had a crescent shaped blade attached to the end. Next to him, hanging on the branch, was a black hood and cloak combination.

"Who are you, my youthful friend?" Guy asked as the man flashstepped towards the ground, still holding on to his katana.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya," he said coolly, as he readied himself into a battle position.

"And I must apologize … but this is as far as you will go. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to turn back now…"

Next Time - Prodigies


	20. 19: The Prodigies

**Chapter 19: The Prodigies**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto _or _Bleach_. They are the respective properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo.

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Anyway, please enjoy this new chapter, and if you want a faster update, please leave a review.

* * *

[15 Miles from Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]

_"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya," he said coolly, as he readied himself into a battle position._

_"And I must apologize … but this is as far as you will go. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to turn back now…"_

_Current Time..._

"I am sorry my friend, but my team and I can not turn back. We are on a vey important task that we must accomplish," Guy said as he stared downed Toshiro who had a small smirk on his face.

"If you're planning on going after the Snake sannin Orochimaru, then there is no point in going onwards. Both he and his assistant have just died."

All of Team Guy gasped and took in a sharp breath of air as Toshiro announced this. After gathering his bearings, Neji stepped forward and looked at the white-haired Captain.

"Are you the one who killed Orochimaru?"

"No. I killed his assistant. If I recall correctly I believe his name was Kabuto Yakushi. My associate Menma was the one who killed Orochimaru and took his Sword of Kusanagi for himself. You may have his body when my teammates and I have left the area."

"_Could this Menma character personally take on Orochimaru and succeed in killing him all by himself?,_" Guy thought to himself, but soon shook this off as he began to struck one of his familiar poses.

"Regardless of what you are capable of, Toshiro-san, we must push on so we can help our comrades!"

Toshiro sighed at hearing Guy's answer.

"If that's the case then, I'm going to have to make you leave the hard way. Before we begin, I must ask you, what are your names?"

"I am Might Guy, and these are my three youthful students! Rock Lee, Neji HYuga, and Tenten," Guy replied enthusiastically as he and Lee seemed to be getting pumped at fighting Toshiro.

"My flames of youth are burning brighter than ever, Toshiro-san! You may be undoubtedly strong to defeat Kabuto-kun, but your luck has just run out! You are not facing off against any ordinary squad! You are facing off against Team Gai, the Number One squad in Konoha!"

"Oh really? Then tell me: if you're the number one squad in Konoha, then how come Sasuke Uchiha, a member of Kakashi Hatake's squad, was the one to kill Itachi Uchiha? The man who was a very dangerous nuke-nin and was responsible for wiping out a great majority of the Uchiha clan. And yet you have yet to claim a single victory against the Akatsuki?"

Upon being reminded of his "rival's" most recent "success", Guy's jaw dropped and eyes widen in comedic fashion. Toshiro inwardly chuckled at this. He remembered a conversation he had some time ago with Naruto when he talked about his senseis. And he specifically remembered Might Guy and his one-sided "rivalry" with Kakashi.

"I will not stand by and allow you to torment me with my rival's student's accomplishments, you fiend! You shall feel both my wrath and my flames of youth! **Gate of View: Open**!"

With that, Guy rushed forward towards Toshiro without giving him a proper chance to react. His skin had turn to a boiling-hot red and a green battle aura had surrounded his body. He delivered a power front kick at the young captain, which sent him flying into the air, the wind knocked iut of him being the only real damage. Toshiro gathered traction at his feet, which allowed him to stand up, but Gai was quicker, and started his next move.

"**Asa Kujaku** (Morning Peacock)!" he shouted as he started to punch Toshiro at a very rapid pace. The punches were so face that they were being set ablaze by the sheer speed and friction that was being used on it. Toshiro landed on the ground and panted heavily. An attack with that amount of power would have killed a normal man. But as a shinigami, Toshiro possessed a much greater resilience and durability than a regular human.

Lee then suddenly kicked Toshiro into the air. He then appeared directly beneath his body before delivering another powerful kick, which sent him flying further into the air. Lee was attempting to use the **Omote** **Renge** (Front Lotus) on Toshiro, the most basic of the Eight Gates techniques. It started by opening the first of the gates, the **Gate** **of** **Opening**, granting the user five times their normal strength. Lee had then used the **Kage** **Buyō **(Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) on him, which had placed the shinigami captain in the perfect position for the finishing move.

He now appeared directly above Toshiro and was prepared to restrain him with his bandages. However, Toshiro now did something unexpected. He suddenly disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared besides him, with his open palm pointed at him.

"**Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku** (Locking Bondage Stripes)," he said as he closed his fist, and suddenly chains made of golden yellow energy wrapped around Lee, restraining him and preventing him fro doing any other action. With that, he was crashed to the ground and was rendered unconscious from the fall.

The remaining members of Team Guy was shocked by this. Toshiro had brushed off Guy's Asa Kujaku like it was nothing and had both easily and swiftly taken out Lee with a combination of a speed technique and that ninjutsu that both Menma and Soifon had used.

Tenten now rushed forward, holding a kunai attached with an explosive tag between each of her fingers. She then tossed them at Toshiro, each of them whizzing through the air as the tags sizzled. However, Toshiro slashed his sword at the incoming kunai, which set out a large wave of ice, freezing the projectiles before they could do any harm. Annoyed that her technique didn't work, Tenetn then took out two scrolls before unsealing them, which released a large amount of white smoke. She then tossed them into the air, which fly and spin together. She then jumped in between them and started to unseal the contents of the two scrolls. She then sent flying a large variety of different bladed weapons at Toshiro.

"**Twin** **Rising** **Dragons**," she shouted as the bladed tools went flying towards the captain. However, Toshiro disappeared in a burst of speed, and reappeared before her with his palm near her face.

"**Inemuri** (Forced Slumber)," he said as Tenten's pupils dilated before she fell unconscious. Toshiro then grabbed her placed her on the ground before Neji appeared and thrust his palm forward.

"**Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm**!"

A compressed shell of air shot out from his palm and was headed towards Toshiro, who was levitating his own zanpakuto before he hit one of its ends. It started to spin rapidly and fast, but suddenly stopped when Toshiro grabbed the hilt. It then send out a large, tornado-like blast which met Neji's vacuum palm head-on.

"**Hadō #58: Tenran **(Orchid Sky)!"

Two respective attacks canceled each other out, but Toshiro wasn't safe yet. Guy suddenly appeared as he attempted to perform a drop kick on Toshiro. Thinking quickly, he quickly flashstepped away from the occoming attack. He then reappeared, pointing his finger at Guy, who was confused by why he wasn't fighting back against him.

"**Bakudō #73: Tozanshō** (Inverse Crystal Mountain)," Toshiro announced as a single spark glistened where Guy was standing. The spark then expanded up to four points and created a pyramid barrier, which then solidified around Guy trapping him within.

Placing his zanpkuto on his shoulder, he turned around and faced Neji, who was quietly analyzing him.

"So … it looks like it just leaves you and me."

"So it would seem."

Toshiro briefly closed his eyes and smirked as he continued on.

"I have heard quite about you Neji Hyuuga. You are a member of the Hyuuga Clan's branch family, and are a master of its Gentle Fist arts, including techniques only known by the main family."

Neji's eyes widened a bit as he listened to Toshiro's words.

"How … how do you know this?"

"I have faced a few enemies that you have in the past," Toshiro said, obviously lying.

"They all consider you to be quite the progidy. Is that true?"

"That's what people keep telling me," Neji deadpanned as Toshiro got out of his relaxed position and stiffened slightly.

"People have saying the very same thing about me back home."

"And where is this home of yours?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to divulge that information," Toshiro said as he went back into his fighting stance. While he remained stoic and calm on the outside, he was feeling a sudden rush of excitement and anticipation on the inside. He began to wonder of this was what Kenpachi felt whenever he was in battle, but soon brushed those thoughts aside.

"Let's put these stories to test, shall we?"

"Agreed," Neji said as he went into his Gentle Fist stance. Everything suddenly seemed to slow down as the two prodigies stared down each other. The air around them was becoming increasingly tense, but all of it was broken once Neji made the first move. He rushed forward and tried to deliver a knife hand strike, but Toshiro then sidestepped the attack. He then tried to slice at his shoulder, but Neji separated before the sword could connect with him. He then jumped back and went into a set of handsigns.

"**Iwa no Yoroi** (Rock Armor)," he announced as transparent chakra covered his forearms. He then charged in a Toshiro, and, to the latter's surprise, swatted the sword away before striking him in the shoulder. Toshiro winced at this as he slashed at Neji's forearms, but it simply bounced off. He then stepped back as he looked at Neji's new technique.

"What did you do to your arms?"

"You heard me. I used the Iwa no Yoroi Jutsu. It covers my arms in earth chakra, which the Hyuga clan has an affinity for. Not only does it provide me more durability, but also it increases the power and force behind my gentle fist strikes. Only three people in the Hyuga Clan are able to use it: myself, my cousin Hinata, and my uncle and the clan head Hiashi."

"I see."

"By the way... you are now within my range. _I can't see his tenketsu points right now but I can still strike them. I known where they all are by instinct so..."_

"I'm within your wha-"

Toshiro was suddenly struck with two knife hand strikes to his shoulders. He winced at this as Neji continued with his attack.

"**Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms**!" he shouted before delivering another two strikes.

"Two Palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty four palms!"

With that, he delivered another two consecutive strikes, followed by four stikes, then eights strikes, sixteen strikes, and finally, thirty-two strikes. This only winded Toshiro, despite the extra power it had with being combined with a Doton technique. Neji was surprise by this, since somebody hit with the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms wouldn't be capable of standing up.

"It's impressive that you're still standing. However, your tenketsu has been cut off and you are incapable of using your chakra for now. This fight-"

Neji was unable to finish his sentence, however, as he suddenly was forced to dodge a horizontal slash from Toshiro.

"I hate to break it to you, but I was never using chakra to begin with! Your Gentle Fist Style is impressive; that said, your ability to close tenketsu points is of no use against me."

Neji stood in shock at this revelation as Toshiro flashstepped back away from him. He then raised his sword into the air as clouds gathered around the sky, blanketing the sun. The clouds then turned dark and gray, and, much to Neji's surprise it began to snow. It wasn't soft and gentle snow, but it was hard and fierce. It was soon accompanied by icy cold winds. Toshiro then pointed his sword at him as he began to explain.

"This is **Tensō** **Jūrin** (Subjugation of the Heavens), one of my most powerful techniques. It allows me to control the weather within the surrounding area. More specifically, it allows me to control the water in the air. _-That is except when Naruto decides to use his bankai since its ability to control the weather far surpasses my own-_ I don't usually use this since it's unstable, but for you, I'll make an exception."

Neji was taken further back by this explanation.

"_I know there are people who possess Ice Release kekkai genkais, but I have never seen or heard of anything this powerful! This rivals a technique that would be used be a Kage!_"

Not waiting for a response, Toshiro grabbed the sword with both hands, and raised the sword up to the top of his head. With one, quick fluid movement, he delivered a power vertical cut, which launched an ice dragon at Neji. Along the way, the snow and ice created by Tensō Jūrin was absorbed into the dragon, giving it even more power and force. After quickly thinking over his options, got into another gentle fist stance.

"**Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven**," he shouted before spinning rapidly, creating a rotating shield around him. The dragon struck Neji, and pushed him back a few yards, creating a small trench due to the Revolving Heaven being used. The dragon then split into two, and went around Neji, hitting a few trees in back of him and freezing them solid. The jutsu suddenly ended, and Neji stood there, slightly hunched over and panting. Trying to keep up his Revolving Heaven while being hit by a powerful attack had took a toll on him. He had used up a large amount of his chakra and had various cuts and scrapes over his body.

"I admit that was impressive. You were able to stop my ice dragon in the nick of time with that Jutsu of yours."

Neji nodded in response. Despite the damage he had taken, Neji rushed forward at Toshiro. His arm was pulled back; ready to use a palm strike. In response, Toshiro rushed forward, gripping both hands on his zanpakuto. The two of them were soon in inches of each other, and prepared to trade blows.

"**Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher**!"

"**Onibi** (Demon Fire)!"

The force of their attacks then separated Neji and Toshiro. Neji's Mountain Crusher had done much damage to Toshiro. He was now covered in a few lacerations and he was slightly bruised. However, Toshiro had managed to stab Neji in the left shoulder. A thin layer of ice had spread from the wound and covered most of his arm. However, he was still able to move it, albeit stiffly.

Both of them then faced each other and continued to fight on. Neji attempted to deliver a Rock Armor enhanced Gentle Fist strike with his free arm to Toshiro, who would parry it with his sword. On the other hand, Toshiro would try to cut Neji, who would swat off the attack with his forearms. Neji suddenly sidestepped to the right and delivered a jab at Toshiro's right abdomen. He cringed at this as the pain spread throughout his body. Ignoring the new surge of pain, Toshiro flashstepped away, confusing Neji. He then reappeared, pointing his index finger at Neji's right shoulder.

"**Hadō** **#4:** **Byakurai** (Pale Lightening)," he said as a white blue, concentrated bolt of reiryoku at his shoulder. It went through it, and Neji let out a brief shout of pain. He grasped his shoulder with his left arm, which had broken out of the ice layer. He then looked at Toshiro, and a small grin appeared.

"I admit. You are a worthy opponent, Toshiro-san. You're the first person in recent years who has pushed me to my limits. Let's end this fight, shall we?"

"Agreed."

However, before either of them could continue on with their fight, they soon felt two different spikes in energy coming from the area where Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, and Jiraiya were located. Both of the prodigies stood in shock at the energy, but both for their own different reasons.

"_Did Ichigo just go and used that? His opponent must be pretty serious if he's forced him to go and use that,_" Toshiro thought to himself.

"_Sasuke-san must have gone and used one of his more powerful jutstus,_" Neji thought to himself as he looked over to the direction where the energy was emitting.

* * *

[Somewhere in the Land of Lightening, Shinobi World]

_Meanwhile..._

As Naruto's group and the Konoha shinobi were fighting it out, Soifon and Renji were currently in the Land of Lightening, heading towards an unknown location. They were walking along a pathway, trying to stay discreet and not catch anybody's attention. Suddenly, Soifon stopped in her tracks, tensed up, and became as stiff as a board. Renji also become more alert, and then shook her on the shoulder.

"Did you just feel that?"

"I did."

"What do you think that was?"

"I do not know … but something has happened with Naruto and the others … but I wonder what it was?

Next Time - The Student and Masters

* * *

A/N: The Iwa no Yoroi isn't a jutsu that I made up. It was seen in episode 59 of _Naruto Shippuden_ (which was part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja filler arc).


	21. 20: The Student and the Masters

**Chapter 20: The Student and Masters**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto _or _Bleach._ They are the respective properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo.

* * *

[Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]

_Current Time…_

Kakashi and Jiraiya came to their senses after Menma and his two accomplices had blasted them with their unusual attacks. As the smoke from the attack cleared, they saw Menma standing in their field of vision. His Fox mask hid his face, and he has the Sword of Kusanagi tucked in his sash, right next to his katana. Jiraiya was about to speak when Naruto held up a hand to silence him.

"If you're going to call me out for killing your former teammate, I should probably remind you that he was a complete monster who had fallen beyond the point of redemption. He also was the one to kill the Sandaime Hokage."

"Actually… I completely agree with what you just said," said Jiraiya as Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the masked swordsmen.

"Menma-san, was wondering something: why would you go and ally yourself with a dangerous shinobi such as Sui-Feng? And also why did you heal Sasuke and the others after your teammates defeated them back in Konoha?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto chuckled at that as he adjusted his mask.

"Soifon isn't all that bad of a person. I admit that she's a stick-up for rules and she may appear to be a bit cold and cocky, but she's a good friend once you get to know her. As for why I healed Sasuke and the others... I have my reasons and let's leave ot at that..." Naruto replied vaguely as he removed his cloak and his power level immediately soared to new heights, much to the surprise of Jiraiya and Kakashi.

Naruto then unsheathed his two swords and twirled them a bit. Naruto had forced himself to learn how to duel wield in a battle with a Vasto Lorde-level Hollow (which he narrowly survived). He then took lessons from Captain Kyoraku to improve his skills. He had his sealed zanpakuto in his right hand while the Sword of Kusanagi was in his left hand.

"I admit, it's going to be an honor fighting the Toad Sannin and the Copycat Ninja. I just hope you don't disappoint me,_ -but at least don't take too long going either; I really don't to hurt you guys too much-_" Naruto said as he made a pose, turning the two swords into a cross, with the Sword of Kusanagi pointing downwards and his zanpakuto pointing to the side.

Disappearing with a flash of speed, Naruto then reappeared in front of Kakashi. The Jonin attempted to slash him with his White Chakra Sabre, but Naruto blocked the attack by crossing his swords into an "X" shape. Applying pressure onto his blades, he then wrestled the tantō out of his former sensei's hands. He was about to deliver a duel slash with his swords when he was forced to dodge a rather large Rasengan from Jiraya, The Sannin's attack then went into a nearby rock, and went through it like a drill.

Naruto's eye then caught Kakashi, who tossed a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. Thinking fast, Naruto deflected the attack back to Kakashi with the Sword of Kusanagi. Kakashi's eyes widen as he jumped out of the way of his redirected kunai. Naruto then focused his attention back on Jiraiya, who was going through a set of handsigns.

"**Needle Jizō**," he announced as his hair extended and became as hard and as sharp as needles, before covering the rest of his body, just in time to defend himself from Naruto's attack. Naruto broke off from attacking as he remembered that Jiraiya's Needle Jizō was a defensive move that would protect him from bladed weapons. Naruto then used his shunpo to gather some distance to cast a Kidō spell. However, Jiraiya beat him to the punch as he went through another set of handsigns.

"**Wild Lion's Mane Technique**," he said as his hair extended forward and formed into the shape of a lion's mouth before lunging towards Naruto. The Third Division Captain raised both of his swords and blocked the attack, puhsing him back a bit as his heels dug into the ground. Naruto then began to slice at the hair with his two swords at a speed that could of only been seen with a Sharingan. To the Sannin's surprise, the swords cut through his hair as if it were paper.

"_Impossible! The combinbation of my Needle Jizō and Wild Lion's Mane technique should of made my hair harder than steel! But this Menma character has no problem of cutting through it!_" Jiraya thought to himself as Kakashi reappeared, wielding a kunai in both hand. Naruto separated from the Sannin as he now took on the Copycat Ninja.

Kakashi slashed at him with his kunai while Naruto parried or blocked the attacks with his two swords. Using his zanpakuto, he knocked one of the Kunai out of his hands and slashed him at his shoulder. At this very instant, Kakashi dispelled, revealed to be a Shadow Clone infused with Lightning Chakra. Thinking fast, Naruto dropped both of his swords before the lightning could transfer to him. Both weapons clattered on the ground as the real Kakashi and Jiraiya appeared in front of Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama, we should take Menma down before he had a chance to flee or use that strange ninjutsu of his," Kakashi whispered to Jiraiya as the sannin nodded in agreement.

Kakashi then went through the Ox, Rabbit, and Moneky seals as a large amount of lightning chakra gathered in his hand. Jiraiya, on the other hand, formed another abnormally large Rasengan in his hand. Both of them then charged forward with the intent of finishing off Menma.

"**Raikiri** (Lightning Cutter)!"

"**Ōdama** **Rasengan** (Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)!"

Naruto didn't show any concern about the two oncoming jutsus. He simply slammed his hand on the ground as he announced the name of his technique.

"**Bakudō #21: Sekienton** (Red Smoke Escape)!"

With that, a vast amount of Red Smoke escaped from his hand and covered the area, obscuring the two Ninja's visions. With that, Naruto flashstepped to where his swords were and picked them up, twirling the two a bit. Kakashi and Jiraiya both canceled out their jutsus and stopped in the middle of the smokescreen as they waited for it to clear.

"Alright, time to bring in some reinforcements," Jiraiya said as he bit his thumb and let it bleed over his hand. He then slammed his bloody palm on the ground as he shouted out his next technique.

"**Summoning** **Jutsu**!"

A large amount of white smoke appeared and in its place was a very large toad. He was magenta in color and had black markings on his face, arms, and legs along with two horn like protrusions on the top of his head. Like most Toad Summons, he had clothing on. He wore a black kimono with a white sash and mesh armor on underneath. As for weapons, he had a sasumata in his hands and a shield resembling a sake cup on his back.

"Gamaken, I need your help in taking out this masked man," Jiraiya said as the large toad raised an eyebrow at this.

"But Jiraiya-dono, he's just one man," Gamaken stated in a slowl and nervous voice.

"He's a known associate of Sui-Feng, Gamaken."

"You do have a point there. Very well. I'll do my best, but I must apologize because of my ungracefulness."

"_You're a GIANT toad. You're suppose to be ungraceful,_" Naruto thought as he mentally commented at the irony of what the giant amphibian just said.

Gamaken thrust his sasumata at the young captain, who swiftly dodged the toad's attack. Disappearing in a flash of shunpo, Naruto reappeared several yards away. Gamaken then jumped and tried to pounce on the masked man, who avoided him just as he was about to land. As the toad prepared to jump on him again, Naruto clasped his hands together as five small yellow balls of reiryoku appeared and formed a circle above his head. Raising his hands up in the air, he began to chant.

"Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end.** Bakudō #75: Gochūtekkan** (Quintet of 1 kan Iron Pillars)!"

Naruto then slammed his hands downward and sent the orbs into the ground. A bright light generated in the sky above Gamaken and five thick and tall metal pillars, connected to each other by chains, slammed into the giant toad and pinned him down. Kakashi and Jiraiya stood and surprise as Menma had easily subdued the summoned toad.

"Well, at least I tried," Gamaken said in a rather optimistic voice as he diseappeared in a puff of smoke, having been reversed summoned back to Mount Myōboku.

"_Did Menma-san just used some sort of special lightning release jutsu or … you know what? Forget it; it's probably for the best that we don't wonder about their techniques,_" Kakashi thought to himself as he went and retrieved his White Chakra Sabre. Two years previously, he had his father's tantō reforged since it had been broken ever since the mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge in the Third Shinobi World War.

"Kakashi, I need for you to buy me some time. Can you distract Menma for me?" Jiraiya asked.

"I can do that, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said as the Sannin leaped off. Naruto suddenly reappeared and started to rapidly strike him with his two swords. Kakashi blocked each of the rapid strikes with his tantō. Sheathing the blade, he disappeared in a shunsin and reappeared above Naruto with his hands going through a set of seals.

"**Suiton: Great Waterfall Technique**," he shouted as water swirled around him and then shot out like a cascade. Sheathing the Sword of Kusanagi, Naruto placed both hands on his zanpakuto before raising it up in the air. As the water was about to hit him, he brought it down with one powerful swing.

"**Ryōdan** (Bisection)," he shouted as the water was split in half and curved around him. Kakashi then activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, as it changed changed from its standard red pupil with three tomoe to a more exotic design. He then focused his eye on Menma as he prepared to use a technique.

"**Kamui** (Authority of the Gods)!"

A spiral-shaped portal suddenly appeared near the young captain and attempted to suck him in. Naruto disappeared in a burst of shunpo and reappeared a few yards away. As his feet set on the ground, his left foot felt higher than the other. Naruto looked down and found out that somehow, he had lost his left sandal to the Kamui portal. Sighing in annoyance, he threw his Zanpakuto up into the air as he said its release command.

"**Open the Floodgates, Kamikaze** (Divine Wind)!"

A group of thunderclouds appeared above the sword before a bolt of lightning struck it. The sword then fell back down to the earth and back into Naruto's hand in the shape of its ususal lightning chokuto. Naruto pointed his shikai at his former sensei and sent a wave of water and wind at him. The jonin's eyes widened at this and he dodged out of the way before the attack could hit. Naruto was about to send out another attack, but suddenly dodged a punch from the newly reappeared Jiraiya, whose appearance had drastically altered. He now had a bulged nose with a few warts on it, had grown a goatee, and has toad-like eyes with horizontal bar-like pupils. The red lines on his face had become much thicker, taking over each side of it. Jiraiya then bit down on his thumb as he prepared to summon another toad.

"**Summoning** **Jutsu**," he shouted as he slammed his palm on the ground and white smoke appeared. When it cleared, he now had two elderly toads on his shoulders. The first toad was green in color, and had white hair stylized in a Mohawk, bushy eyebrows, and a goatee. The other toad had a pale green underside with purple markings around her mouth. The top of her head made it look like she was wearing a hairnet.

"Jiraiya-chan! You have some nerve to summon us! We were about to have supper!" the purple toad shouted out in an elderly voice.

"Now dear, Jiraiya must of summon us for an important reason. He would not of summon us on a whim."

"But my cooking will burn!"

"There are other things to focus on now!"

Naruto looked on at the ensuing erguement between the two amphibians in amusement.

"Interesting…"

"Impreased? I don't normally use this since it ruins my good looks, but for you, I'll make an exception. It's called Sage Mode, and it-"

"I know what it does."

"Really...?" Jiraiya asked in a surprised manner as Menma nodded and continued.

"In a nutshell, it allows a shinobi to enhance their attacks by combining nature energy with their own chakra. However, only a handful of shinobi have been able to use it."

"So where have you heard about it?"

"I've read about it somewhere," he replied vaguely as he attempted to slash Jiraiya, who ducked and attempted a right hook on his face. Naruto leaned to the right to avoid this, but suddenly felt a blow to his face as he jumped back. He had a feeling that it was a "phantom punch" attack created by Sage Mode. Jiraiya then went through a set of hands as he glanced to the two toads on his shoulder.

"Ma! Pa! Get ready!"

Both Toads nodded as all three of them spat something out of their mouths. Jiraiya spat out a large amount of oil, Fukasaku fired off a large amount of wind chakra, and finally, Shima fired off a large amount of fire chakra.

"**Toad Oil Bullet**!"

"**Sage Art: Wind Release Stream**!"

"**Sage Art: Fire Release Stream**!"

The three techniques then combined into one large technique. The wind technique propelled the oil along while the fire ignited it to form a large boiling wave of oil that was burning at a thousand degrees.

"**Sage Art: Goemen**!"

The wave oil bured everything in its path as it raced towards Naruto. The blonde shinigami flashstepped several yards back before landing on top of a boulder. He made a horizontal swipe with Kamikaze and sent out a large wave of water and wind. The two attacks collided, with the oil floating over the water, but it had now cooled down significantly. Naruto was still on guard as he heard Jiraya shout out his next attack.

"**Sage Art: Needle Hair Senbon**!"

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Jiraiya now in a hunched over position, much like a toad, firing off strands of his hair like a machine gun. Said hair had become harden and sharp like a needle. Unsheathing the Sword of Kusanagi, he started to move at a fast pace with both is blades, either deflecting them or cutting them in half before they could land a hit on him.

Jiraiya suddenly stopped the technique, and the moment he did, Naruto flashstepped in front of him, holding the Sword of Kusanagi in a reverse grip. He tried a downward strike at the Toad Sannin, who leaned back to avoid getting cut. As Jiraiya was too busy focusing on the sword in his left hand, he made a diagonal slash with Kamikaze and managed to nick him in the left arm.

Jiraiya grunted at the pain as he threw a right hook at his adversary. Naruto dodged this, making sure to get far enough to not get hit by Jiraiya's phantom punches. He then charged in and delivered a front kick to the Toad Sannin's chest. Jiraiya grunted as he took out a scroll from his kunai holster and unsealed its contents. In a puff of smoke, he now had a pair of swords in his hands. They were slate grey in color with a circular, hollow pommel similar to a kunai's. A chain connected the pommel to the hilt of the sword, which was connected to the blade. The blade was wide and had several markings resembling veins running along its length. Jiraiys raised one of the swords and pointed it at Naruto.

"What do think? These are the secret stone swords of Mount Myobokū. You aren't the only one who can use swords, Menma-san."

Naruto then rushed at Jiraiya, who attempted to counter with the stone swords. The sannin thrust his first sword forward, which Naruto dodged and parried with Kamikaze. He then did a large diagonal slash with his zanpakuto that Jiraiya blocked with one of the swords. However, Naruto placed more pressure on the sword and cut through the blade gracefully, much to the Sannin's shock.

"You're right that I'm not the only sword wielder; that said, however, the fact is irrelevant when I'm able to destroy your blades," Naruto said.

While his mentor was momentarily distracted, Naruto sliced through the other sword, rendering them both useless. For good measure, he then kicked the hilts out of Jiraiya's hands. As he was about to make his next move, he heard the electricity crackling behind him. Turning around, he saw Kakashi about to charge at him with a newly formed Raikiri. Naruto waved his shikai at Kakashi, causing a large amount of water to rush at him. The rushing water caused Kakashi to lose his balance and fall with his Raikiri canceling out.

Before Naruto or his two senseis could continue, both of them felt two sudden spikes in energy. Both energies were familiar to the three combatants. Kakashi and Jiraiya paled as the realization hit them while Naruto's eyes widen in shock.

"_Did Sasuke just went and did that?_" Kakashi thought to himself as he looked at Jiraiya, who was having similar thoughts to his if his facial expressions were anything to go by.

"_Please don't tell me that Ichigo was forced to use __**THAT**__. I should've fought Sasuke myself if it was going to come to this,_" Naruto thought to himself as he looked over at his two former senseis.

Thinking fast, he flashstepped away from them before sending out a large wave of lightning and water at them with Kamikaze. With the water acting as an insulator, the lightning shocked the jonin and the sannin. The two of them were fazed and weakened, but still standing. Naruto flashstepped away before either of them had time to react.

"_Things have gotten really out of hand if Ichigo was forced to use his Hollowfication,_" Naruto thought to himself as he raced away towards to where Sasuke and Ichigo were.

"_I have to hurry and end their battle before Ichigo uses __**THAT**__ form. If he uses it, then everyone on the battlefield will be in grave danger. Ichigo can control __**THAT**__ form, but it's just too powerful to use with this many people nearby. I hope I'm not too late…_"

Next Time - Sasuke vs. Ichigo, Round 2!

* * *

A/N: For a reference for Naruto's battle pose in the beginning of the chapter, think of the pose that Father Alexander Anderson did in his fight with Alucard in _Hellsing Ultimate 1 _OVA. Here's a link below if you need visual aid (don't forget to add a slash symbol after the .com part and between the spaces):

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	22. 21: Sasuke vs Ichigo, Round 2!

**Chapter 21: Sasuke vs Ichigo, Round 2!**

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Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto _or _Bleach_. They are the respective property of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo.

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[Somewhere Outside of Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]

_Current Time..._

Sasuke coughed as he gathered his bearings after evading Menma and his cohort's surprise attack. He had his Gunbai fan clutched in his right hand, and was now taking steady breaths. Without looking up, he spoke to the person in front of him.

"It looks like its just you and me … Ichigo Kurosaki…" he said as he slowly looked up with his Sharingan activated.

Ichigo stood before him, holding Zangetsu's shikai form over his shoulders and with a calm and neutral expression on his face.

"It seems so," he said in agreement to the Last Uchiha before settling with Zangetsu in a two handed grip. Sasuke held his Gunbai in a similar position before speaking.

"Let me guess: you're going to try to ask me to leave peacefully, aren't you?"

"I'm not," Ichigo sated simply before explaining further.

"It would be a waste of time to do that; if you and your friends were willing to leave, you would've already done so by now."

Ignoring the Substitute's comment, Sasuke lifted up the warfan with his right hand while unsheathing his and holding it with his left hand. He then activated both his Curse Mark and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. The design of his eyes than changed, taking on the form of three red intercepting ellipses. At the centre of each eye was a stylized three-bladed Shuriken design resembling a smaller version of Itachi's Mangekyō. While Sasuke's eyes changed the curse mark near his shoulder pulsed before activating its second level. Sasuke's skin turned dark grey and a mark resembling a four-pointed star appeared between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. His sclerae turned black, along with growing claw-like nails, canine-like teeth, and his hair now reaching waist length. Lastly, a pair of large, webbed hand shaped wings sprouted out of his back, destroying his shirt in the process. Besides these new physical changes, Sasuke's already extraordinary chakra levels increased more. He then crossed his two weapons before speaking.

"We're both alone and far away from Konoha, so I'm going to give it my all this time around, Kuroskai. I don't want to sound like a hypocrite but if you want to withdraw, this is your last chance."

Ichigo only responded by holding Zangetsu out in front of him with both hand on the hilt, and said one word:

"Bankai!

A large column of spiritual pressure engulfed him, bring up large clouds of dust. Sasuke blocked the oncoming dust with his fan before it cleared up, revealing Ichigo in his bankai state. He wore the form-fitting, long sleeved coat and he held his pitch black daitō sword in his right hand that Sasuke recognized all too well.

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OST:

"Unreleased Battle Theme" (from Naruto Shippuden) (link: www. youtube .com watch?v=2smDO6ilWy4)

(after the .com add a slash symbol and don't forget to backspace the open spaces)

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"**Tensa Zangetsu** (Heavenly Chain Slaying Moon)," he said before dashing forward with his shunpo and prepared to deliver a one-handed, overhead slash.

Sasuke quickly blocked the attack with his Gunbai in the nick of time. Channeling lightning chakra through his kodachi, he attempted to slice Ichigo's side before the latter parried the attack. Using his bankai enhanced speed, Ichigo began to deliver a series of cuts and slashes with his sword. However, due to his EMS's enhanced perception and movement prediction, Sasuke was able to meet the attack on blow for blow, either parrying or blocking with his kodachi or gunbai.

Ichigo quickly jumped back whilst charging reiatsu into his sword. As it reached the tip of his sword, he slashed it forward.

"**Getsuga Tenshō** (Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)," he shouted as the releashed reiatsu took the form of a crescent before hurling towards the Uchiha. Thinking quickly, Sasuke sheathed his kodachi before holding his gunbai with his left hand near the grip and his right hand near the middle of the fan.

"**Uchiha Return**," he shouted as the Getsuga made contact with the fan before seemingly being negated. However, the attack was soon launched back at Ichigo in a split second. Acting fast, Ichigo quickly formed and launched another Getsuga Tenshō, meeting the original head on. The two attack clashed for a bit before both dispersing.

"Smart move. He nullified his original attack by countering it with another one," Sasuke thought to himself as he quickly used a Shunshin to disappear and get the drop on the Substitute. He attempted to hit him with his Gunbai, but Ichigo was able to block the attack with Tensa Zangetsu. Sasuke then jumped up into the air and performed a flying spin kick, aimed towards Ichigo's head. The orange-haired teenager blocked that attack with his left elbow as Sasuke separated and jumped back a few yards. Ichigo then disappeared with his flashstep before reappearing in the air, charging reiatsu through his sword before announcing his attack.

"**Getsuga Borē** (Moon Fang Volley)!"

With that, he launched out hundreds of energy blasts in the shape of arrow points at the Uchiha. Sasuke then channeled chakra through his war fan as he shouted out his next move.

"**Gunbai Barrier Technique**!"

A large, circular barrier made of chakra erupted from where the war fan was, ready to stop Ichigo's attack. The arrow points meant the barrier, with a few bouncing off of it, but some of the points managed to pierce the barrier, but thankfully away from Sasuke. Quickly dispersing the barrier, he rushed towards the Ichigo, who was now on the ground and now doing the same. Both drawing their respective weapons back, they both launched them forward and ended up locked between each other. Both separated and Sasuke attempted to hit Ichigo on his side with his Gunbai. However, Ichigo once again parried the attack as Sasuke jumped back and went through another set of handsigns.

"**Katon: Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique**," he shouted as he expelled a large amount of chakra infused ash from his mouth. The ash then blanketed the area, obscuring him from view. Sasuke smirked to himself as he held his gunbai in another battle stance. This technique not only served as a highly effective smokescreen but also acted as a deterrent by burning anybody who came in contact.

However, Ichigo suddenly appeared after dashing through the ash with his speed, although suffering a few burns, thought they were small and insignificant.

Ichigo then held out his left hand in front of the Uchiha. with his middle finger underneath his thumb. He then let out a powerful finger flick with another force that sent Sasuke flying back, crashing into a boulder.

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OST Scene Ends

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As the clouds of dust caused by the impact cleared, Ichigo was surprised to see what was in front of him. At the last moment, Sasuke had activated and manifested the ribcage of his Susanoo to protect himself from the crash. The ribcage now had black flame-like markings covering it due to the influence of Sasuke's Cursed Seal of Heaven.

Before Ichigo could question the Uchiha clansman about his technique, Sasuke immediately deactivated his Susanoo, much to his opponent's surprise. Using his wings, Sasuke began to fly up into the air until he was at least thirty feet off the ground. He started to go through hand signs to prepare for a technique, but was forced to abandon that when Ichigo flew up with his flash step and tried to stab him with his sword. Sasuke unsheathed his kodachi in the nick of time and blocked the attack.

"_Just as I thought… Ichigo and his teammates can use that flying ability that the girl fighting Sakura used,_" Sasuke thought to himself as he drew his kodachi with his free hand and channeled lightning chakra through it. Before he could use it, however, Ichigo disappeared using a flash step before reappearing behind Sasuke. He then delivered an ax kick towards the Uchiha's shoulder, which sent him flying down.

Using his wings, Sasuke managed to slow his descend and landed in his two feet. Sheathing his blades, Sasuke spotted where his Gunbai laid and quickly grabbed it. Ichigo then flied towards him, holding Tensa Zangetsu with both of his hands. The Substitute delivered a powerful diagonal slash on Sasuke's back. Sasuke hissed in pain as his left wing fell off, having been clipped by Ichigo's attack. The substitute prepared for another attack by flash stepping in front of the Uchiha, but Sasuke quickly swung his gunbai and hit him in the stomach. Ichigo went in a sharp in take of air as the breath was knocked out of him.

Now having an opening, Sasuke then reactivated his Susanoo, but went for its complete form this time. The ribcage formed before spreading out to create a pair of skeletal arms and a head. Muscles and skin then covered it as it now went into its complete form. It was orange-red in color, with a few locks of hair framing the face, a pointed chin, and a marking on his face similar to the one that Sasuke had in the second level of his Curse Seal. Flame-like markings appeared all over its body. It also had two sets of arms that were conjoined at the elbow. In it's lower right hand was what appeared to be a sake jar. Liquid was then released out of the jar and shaped into the form of a blade. This weapon was the none other than the Totsuka Blade, a weapon that seals away anyone stabbed with the sword in a genjutsu-like "world of drunken dreams" for eternity. Sasuke was able to use this due to the influence of Itachi's eyes.

"Goodbye, Ichigo," Sasuke said as he ran the blade through Ichigo's body. However, the Ichigo being stabbed soon dissipated, much to the Uchiha's surprise. The real Substitute appeared several yards away. Ichigo had escaped at the last minute by using the shunpo technique **Utsusemi** (Cicada). The orange-haired teenager had learned how to use the move during his training with Naruto he had also used to escape from Sai and Kakashi's trap earlier. However, Ichigo didn't escape unscathed, as he now had a moderate stab wound in the side of his abdomen.

Despite his injuries, Sasuke remained calm and composed as he spoke.

"I must admit, you're probably one of the most powerful opponents I have ever faced, Ichigo Kurosaki. However, it looks like you're at the limits of your abilities. You chose to use your full strength from the beginning of the fight, and have only worn yourself out. It's over."

With that, the Totsuka blade disappeared from the Susanoo's right arms. A pitch-black orb of flames appeared in each of the Susanoo's four hands. Each orb then shifted and took shape of a sword. These were Sasuke's Flame Control Swords, created from the flames of the Amaterasu. Sasuke then used his Susanoo to slash all four of his swords down at Ichigo, intending to finish him in one move.

The Substitute Shinigami didn't even attempt to move out of the way. Instead, he began to channel a Getsuga Tenshō through the blade, with wisps of reiatsu coming off of it. Lifting his sword with one swift motion, he miraculously blocked all four of the Flame Control Swords with Tensa Zangetsu. This surprised and caught Sasuke off guard as his jaw dropped in shock. Ichigo then suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"It's over?"

Sasuke stood in confusion at his opponent's comment as he continued to speak.

"Was that your best shot?"

Applying strength to his sword arm, Ichigo then pushed all four of the Flame Control Swords out of the way with ease, much to the Uchiha's amazement.

"You may be strong, Sasuke Uchiha, but you've made a _very_ big mistake in underestimating me!" Ichigo shouted, Sasuke's words having provoked him as he flash stepped several yards away, placing himself well out of the Susanoo's range.

"You haven't even come _close_ to seeing my full power, and you're about to learn it the hard way!"

The Substitute then placed his left hand over his face, much to the Last Uchiha's confusion.

"I didn't want to go and use **THIS** against you, but you've left me with no other choice_ –and if this isn't enough to finish up the fight soon, then I guess I'll have to go and use __**THAT **__form-_. You better have a few more tricks up your sleeve, because you'll be needing them."

"Why?" a confused Sasuke managed to say as Ichigo concluded his speech.

"I'm about to show you … my Hollowfication!"

Ichigo then made a ripping motion with his left hand, which gathered spiritual material. The spiritual material then formed into a mask on Ichigo's face. The mask could best be described as a menacing skull, with two narrow eyeholes and a set of sharp teeth. It also had two thick vertical black stripes, one on each half of the mask.

Sasuke looked on at this, paralyzed in both shock and horror. This resembled nothing out of all the techniques he had seen and heard throughout his shinobi career... except for one.

"_T-this is... this is just like that battle,_" he thought to himself as he soon began to hallucinate due to the combination of stress, fear, and shock. In his hallucinating state, he briefly saw Naruto in Ichigo's place, looking as he did during his battle with the Uchiha at the Valley of the End. Naruto had a fox-shaped shroud of demonic chakra covering him with one tail, holding a Rasengan in his right hand.

"_Who is this guy? What is this guy?_"

Not giving a chance for Sasuke to respond, Ichigo began to form a small sphere of red reiryoku at where his mouth would be on the mask. The sphere began to grow larger as it charged, before Ichigo released it.

"**Cero** (Hollow Flash)!"

The sphere then shot out in the form of a powerful concentrated beam. It hit the Curse Mark-enhanced Susanoo dead center, sending it reeling back almost 100 yards away. Ichigo had learned how to use the Cero after his training with Naruto. The Third Division Captain had suggested to Ichigo that he honed his Hollow abilities whenever he had the time to do so, and he had did just that. Ichigo had refined his Cero during a fight with a group of Adjuchas-class Menos.

Sasuke pulled himself together and gathered his bearings as he recollected his thoughts.

"_Such power… If this is the sign for the things to come, then I'll have to beat Ichigo as soon as possible._"

"This is only the beginning," Ichigo said in a completely new and different voice. It now sounded deep and guttural, as if it were echoing through a room. Ichigo then pointed Tensa Zangetsu at Sasuke and channeled his Getsuga Tenshō before compressing it.

"**Tensho no Yari** (The Heaven Piercer's Spear)!"

The compressed reiatsu was then fired off as a beam, heading straight towards Sasuke. The Uchiha jumped out of the way before landing on top of a boulder. He then went through a set of handsigns before using an elemental jutsu.

"**Katon: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique**," he shouted as he compressed a large amount of chakra before spitting it out in the form of four-dragon head shaped fireballs. The attack headed towards Ichigo, who responded by forming and launching another Cero in the direction of the attack. Using the Cero as a sweeping beam, he destroyed all three of the fireballs before they had a chance to hit him. Thinking quickly, Sasuke then took out six kunai that had explosive tags attached to them from his kunai pouch. Holding three in each hand between his fingers, he then threw them at Ichigo, dodged out of the way before they could hit him. The Last Uchiha then went through another set of hand signs before he announced his next attack.

"**Katon: Great Fire Annihilation**!"

He then kneaded chakra within his body and then expelled out as a massive wall of intense flames. It raced towards Ichigo, who channeled his reiatsu into the blade before stabbing it into the ground.

"**Getsuga Domū** (Moon Fang Dome)," he said as a protective sphere formed around him and protected him from the oncoming inferno. The flames went around Ichigo as it burned the area behind him. Deactivating his technique, he then flash stepped away from the flames and reappeared a few dozen yards from Sasuke.

Sasuke then had his Susanoo deactivate a Flame Control Sword in its upper left hand before having it form a bow. It then deactivated the swords in its right hands, having the upper right hand create a purple orb. It then placed the orb on the bow, forming it into an arrow. The Susanoo then used both of his right hands to launch the arrow at Ichigo, which was going at such a high speed that made it impossible to avoid. To his surprise, the arrow was split in two as it reached his target.

Sasuke looked closer at Ichigo, and then noticed a change in his sword. It now had red, glowing energy surrounding the blade. Sasuke's eyes widen in realization, as he came to the conclusion that Ichigo managed to channel his Cero through the blade of Tensa Zangetsu.

Ichigo then charged forward in a burst of Shunpo, and struck the Susanoo with his Cero-enhanced sword. The power of the blow forced Sasuke back as several of his Susanoo's ribs were cracked with a few being shattered. As the Susanoo began to repair itself, Sasuke grunted, realizing that he had few options left and had to go with one of his trump cards.

Without warning, Sasuke's Susanoo suddenly grew a lower body, complete with legs and flame like markings flowing throughout its entire body. Sasuke then had the Susanoo's bow and orb disperse before replacing them with the Flame Control Swords. He then charged at Ichigo, planning on finishing him off for good.

"_What the hell is that?_" Ichigo thought to himself as he also charged. The two teenagers were soon face to face, Ichigo clashing with his Cero-enhanced blade and Sasuke attacking with his four Flame Control Swords…

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_Several Minutes Later…_

The battle ground of the two warrior's fight was now barely recognizable. The ground was now barren and scorched black. Young and healthy trees were now burnt and scorched. Several boulders were completely destroyed and now sat as piles of rubble. Sasuke and Ichigo, who had caused all of this destruction, now stood fifteen yards from each other. The upper right portion of Ichigo's hollow mask was destroyed, revealing part of his face. Sasuke's Susanoo was also destroyed, but the boy still had his EMS and Curse Mark activated (with the wing Ichigo cut off having already regenerated), and wasn't out of the fight just yet.

Ichigo then made another ripping motion over his face and reformed another mask to replace his broken one. Ichigo then began to think to himself as he studied Sasuke.

"_I have to finish him off in my next move…_"

"_…_ _or I'll have use my last resort,_" Sasuke mentally concluded before going through a set of hand signs and creating a Black Chidori. Ichigo, on the other hand, channeled both a Getsuga Tenshō and a Cero through his sword. Like before, his blade was now glowing red but with a black outline. Wisps of reiatsu then appeared on the blade before disappearing. They then charged at each other head on, preparing to end the fight.

The two teenagers got to within striking distance and as they brought their attacks to within inches of the other opponent, having reached the point where they intended to kill each other...

... Until Menma suddenly appeared in a burst of shunpo, now covered in a golden yellow aura. Two arms made of reiatsu then emerged from the masked man, which he used to restrain the two combatants, ending their battle prematurely without a real conclusion having been reached.

As a result of being restrained, Ichigo combined Cero and Getsuga dissipated and his Hollow Mask was broken. On the other hand, Sasuke still had his EMS and Curse Seal activated. After separating the teenagers away from each oher by ten yards, Menma (who was currently in the air), dropped 30 feet to the ground like an anchor. Upon landing, he created a very large crater that soon formed a very large cloud of dust and debris. Said cloud separated and obscured the two opponents.

"_Damn. Menma must even more powerful than Ichigo if he was able to stop us so easily... and yet they're both at the level of a Biju,"_ Sasuke thought to himself as he heard Menma yelling at Ichigo from the other side of the cloud.

"You idiot! I told you to be careful, but you just ignored me and took it too far! If I hadn't arrive when I did, who knows what could have happened! Rukia and everyone else could have been hurt or even killed!"

Sasuke was now stunned by what he was hearing. It wasn't anything that Menma said, but it was because his voice changed into a higher tone. A voice that he recognized, as he slowly began to speak in a stunned voice.

"That voice… it can't be… it can't be."

As the cloud was slowly dissipating, Rukia, who was carrying Ichigo and Menma's black cloaks, appeared via flash step before disappearing again to the other side. One by one, the rest of Sasuke's allies also arrived. Jiraiya and Kakashi came first, and were then followed by Sakura, Sai, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino (the latter three having gained conscious some time back).

Sakura approached Sasuke, who still hadn't deactivated his Curse Mark and EMS.

"Sasuke-kun, are you, all right?" she asked, but was met with silence as Sasuke was in an almost catatonic–like state.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong with you? Snap out of it! It's like you've seen a ghost or something!"

However, Sakura's frantic questions were cut off when a new voice was heard from the other side of the cloud.

"Oh… shit; please don't tell me that I broke the mask..."

What was just said, or the voice that said it to be more accurate, shocked all of the shinobi gathered present. The cloud cleared as it slowly revealed the speaker. He appeared to be a teenager with spiky blond hair and cerulean blue eyes. He wore a black kimono with an orange sash, white sleeveless haori, black shinobi sandals, and custom forehead protector with the kanji for "Shinobi" etched onto the metal. On his sash was a katana with an orange hilt and the Sword of Kusanagi. On the ground near his feet was a Kitsune mask. However, it was now broken into many tiny pieces. shattered like fragile glass.

The shinobi present were stunned by the revelation, with the exception of Sai, who narrowed his eyes.

"You."

"It can't be you."

"How is this even possible?"

Sasuke broke out of his shocked state as he uttered one word:

"Naruto…"

Next Time - Reunion

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A/N: For those of you who want to know, the finger flick move that Ichigo uses is the exact same move Isshin used against Aizen in Chapter 398 of _Bleach_. And all of the jutsus Sasuke uses in this chapter (with the exception of the Susanoo and the Black Chidori) are jutsus used by Madara Uchiha in canon.


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